A Phantom's Longing
by Kanzen 712
Summary: Yami is a man that has lived beneath the Opera Populaire since he was a child, but when singing instructor Yugi Motou becomes the second manager of the Opera he begins to take an interest in the young man. But, what is Yugi hiding from everyone?
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE: **A Phantom's Longings

**RATING:** To be safe, T (for now)

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not have any stakes in the ownership of _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ nor _The Phantom of the Opera._

**WARNINGS:** Homosexual relationships, Fusion?, not very favorable to Tea

**SUMMARY:** Yami is a man that has lived beneath the Opera Populaire since he was a child, but when singing instructor Yugi Motou becomes the second manager of the Opera he begins to take an interest in the young man. What he, nor the others, at the Opera know is that Yugi has a past that he wishes would stay in the past.

**On one note, please give this a shot.**

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Our story begins with an opera house of good standing and reputation called the Opera Populaire, who was renowned for their lovely and talented Prima Donna named Mai Valentine. At this very moment the ownership of the Opera was switching over from the two old men named Count Sugoroku Motou and his long time friend Arthur Hawkins to a younger generation, an inventor and business man named Seto Kaiba and the other was just a business man named Maximillion Pegasus. Both were millionaires and had figured that taking over such an establishment would be in their best interest— for Kaiba it would get his nagging step-father off of his case and for Pegasus it was because his wife adored this particular opera house and he wished to make her happy with tickets to every show. You can just see the sheer differences of opinion forming in their introductions had have to feel at least a sliver of pity for whom ever was the manager of the place when neither were present.

Marik Ishtar, the lone manager of the Opera Populaire, had arrived at the nice Romanesque opera house early on the first day of dress rehearsals with the distinct feeling he should have stayed in bed with his husband and told he world to return in a week. Unfortunately for him his husband, who was a young man that resembled him and was named Malik, was an early riser due to his job. Malik was the one that ran the offices of the opera house and kept the books— from wages and those that paid for room and board to the patrons and the such— and he liked to get an early start on things before they piled up over the course of the day. This was a complete opposite from his husband.

As the platinum haired man made it in the doors and heard the throaty and riveting tones of Mai Valentine going through one of the arias and sighed. He had been lucky that his long time friend and the Maestro of the orchestra, who went by the name of Bakura, had found the woman when he did or else they would have had to rely on a no-talent Prima Donna that demanded too much money to break the glass night after night! Or worse, he mused, that annoying chorus girl named Tea Gardener who claimed to have taken lessons from 'The Angel of Music.'

Marik snickered at the memory of that particular day. Mai had not been able to arrive to a rehearsal for the last show and Tea had stepped in, under her meek declaration, and everyone agreed that she should not ever be allowed to sing alone… ever again. He knew the so-called 'Angel of Music' she referred to, since she had said that she did not know the man but took lessons in the opera house, and knew that he had not taught the annoying chit a thing. The man that Tea had been referring to was The Phantom of the Opera, who favored card games and such instead of music. Sure he loved to listen and watch the plays from his own private box, Box Five, but he could not teach to save his life and only sung in private or when drunk. If anything Marik and Bakura drug that Phantom out to casinos and backrooms when they needed some extra money, or someone that would bring them back to the opera house in one piece after a night of drinking. This just told him that the girl had been reading those trashy romance novels again and had spotted the Phantom in the shadows and decided to make her life one.

The Phantom was not amused by this and had been fiddling around with his lasso and torture chamber, getting the techniques and such perfect for when he could lure her to her death. The agreement they had with Bakura's lover, a sweet and reserved young man by the name of Ryou who played the violin, that they would need to have a full vote of 'aye' before they let that happen.

They were one vote short every time, to the ire of those involved.

"There he is! The Phantom!" he heard a familiar voice shriek through the main doors that led into the theater proper from the foyer. He could hear the groans that cutting voice caused by its echoing off of the walls and causing everyone to groan and cover their ears. By unwritten law all opera houses or playhouses had good acoustics so that everyone could hear, when they were loud enough, and a sound like that could have deafened a pack of screeching violins with ease.

"For the last bloody time, there is no such thing!" he heard his sister Isis Ishtar tell the girl, her growled out statement followed with a sound of pain. Marik sighed. That had to be Isis's walking cane, which the dance mistress had taken to using after her right knee had gone out the year before, meeting the back of Tea's insanely hard head. "If you interrupt practice again I'll have you performing this routine till your toes bleed!" Marik blinked a few times because that threat was new.

Maybe he should start prodding Bakura into screwing Ryou senseless before the next vote. It would make things so much easier. "Excuse me, are you the manager of this opera house?" a rather calm, yet soothing voice asked as the blonde manager spun and seen a young man with spiky tri-colored hair in a nice formal suit. His violet eyes were wide and innocent, yet tempered by a dark show of wisdom one gains from seeing something they should not.

"I am, what of it?" Marik drawled out with narrowed eyes, but the young man before him did not flinch as he extended a hand to him.

"My name is Yugi Motou, I seen an ad in the paper about the position of manager." He stated as Marik froze, but accepted the offered hand automatically. "You must be under a lot of stress with the opening of the show in two days." Yugi added with a small smile and laugh to calm the blonde.

"Any experience with opera singers, dancers, and all around pain-in-the-asses?" Marik asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doors. He was mentally surveying the young man in front of him, from his wild hair to his thin frame.

"A bit." Yugi admitted as he removed his hat and met Marik's eyes without fear. "I am a singing instructor, if that helps any." He added as an after thought as Marik nodded and pushed away from the doors, making a snap decision that would have him in the dog house for sure but he did not really care.

"No trouble than, come in and see the disaster before it becomes a polished diamond that will have the papers glowing reviews." Marik stated pulling the young man through the doors into the theater where the rehearsals had resumed. Both stood in the aisle as the chorus and Mai, as well as the leading man named Signor Joseph Wheeler, launched into one of the infamous songs from the opera named _Hannibal_. They wrapped up as many were drawn to the two in the aisle. "What'cha think?"

"Absolutely stunning." He stated with a smile and bowed to the ensemble. "Your voice is stunning, Madame Mai, and you will be well on your way to being a truly legendary Diva with every show you do. The orchestra was just as well, which is why I can now understand why the papers say they are so talented." He stated as Mai curtsied to him and Bakura smirked and looked rather pleased with the statement. "I now can't wait to see what this will look like on opening night."

"And who is this delightful young man, Mr. Ishtar?" Mai purred as Yugi blushed a bit at the attention.

"This is Yugi Motou, who is filling in the vacant position of manager and part-time singing instructor. Which means we can start searching for your understudy, Ms. Valentine, and have her edges properly polished!" Marik stated as the blonde woman looked pleased with that decision. Everyone else was just as happy, but that was because it meant Tea did not have her nails sunk into that position and she would not be singing solo any time soon.

"Yugi, my old friend!" a brunette chorus girl with wide sky blue eyes shrieked, instead of whispered like it was a secret, as the auburn haired girl by her slapped her forehead and slowly edged away. This drew all attention to them, to the auburn haired girl's mortification, and the brunette did not really care about the glares or the annoyance directed at her for her shrieking.

"Do you know her?" Marik whispered to a frowning Yugi who was rubbing his ears, having dropped his hat at the loud sound.

"Not really." Yugi replied with a shiver. "I'd remember a voice like that if I did." The blonde was thankful for that, he did not need any soap operas or anything to take place in his opera house. He glanced over at his new manager again and mentally cackled. This new face was perfect to draw the Phantom from his isolation, yet also perfect because said Phantom needed to relax or at least a new hobby besides gambling.

If not, it would be interesting to lock them in a room together with some… needed supplies.

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**A/N: **This is kinda a test run, as well as the background, since there are soooo many other stories like this. Well, not _like this _like this but in the sense of YGO/PotO crossover/fusion variety. This isn't a parody or anything, at least I don't think so, but a bit of an answer to slight annoyance. At this stage it is a toss up.

**Flame it, I don't care. Review it with criticism, any is welcome. Leave a not of interest, and I'll cheer.**


	2. Chapter 2

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Yami, the Phantom of the Opera, blinked a few times as he watched the usually tame and laid back Malik chase his husband around the sitting room of his underground house with a rolled up packet of papers from the safety of his chair. Bakura and Ryou sat on the loveseat and just watched, figuring it would be best to not get involved in that lovers spat. "They are rather active." Yami remarked as he crossed his legs and sat back in his chair with his arms crossed.

"Marik hired a new manager on the fly." Ryou answered as he cuddled up to Bakura, which meant he was half in the Maestro's lap and half not, watching contently as neither blonde looked to be giving up any time soon. That meant he missed Yami's eyebrows shooting up in question.

"He did, did he?" the Phantom asked, absently reaching up to adjust the black, wide brimmed hat he wore to keep his hair obscured before his fingers slipped down to adjusted the white mask that covered the top half of his face.

"This new manager also is a singing instructor, who will be teaching Mai's understudy when the blonde settles on one. Supposedly your little 'protégé' knows said manager." Bakura drawled out with a smug smirk as the corner of Yami's mouth twitched in annoyance.

"I have no 'protégé' and even if I did it sure as hell would not be that tone deaf siren!" Yami hissed out as he got to his feet, causing the two blondes to pause in their chasing to stare at him. "I'm going to go check in on this new… resident, myself." With that he stalked off as all four stared after him and waited until the door to the house shut.

"So, Yugi is staying here… right?" Malik asked his husband while unrolling the papers he was using as his weapon.

"Showed him the room myself and sent a stage hand to help him move his things from the hotel he was staying at." Marik stated as he wearily eyed his husband, who was now sitting in the chair Yami had abandoned and reading the first page of the papers he held. "Also he has a nice form and if Mai cannot perform we can shove him into a dress and have him sing the leading role!" he proudly stated with arms crossed, an insane smile curling his lips. All attention turned to him on that declaration and was wondering why he said that.

"You just met the guy and you're already trying to get him in a dress!" Ryou stated and began to giggle, burying his face into Bakura's shoulder while Marik glared at him for that comment.

"You never know what Yami likes, considering the fact he shows no interest in anything but games." Malik answered without looking up while flipping a page. "Plus, just imagine how much fun this will be if Yami takes an interest in this Yugi character."

* * *

The shiver that ran up and down Yami's spine should have been warning enough to the fact that a certain group was plotting behind his back. Instead he took it as a warning to pick up the pace to the upper levels of the opera house where it was warmer. As he silently slipped through the secret passageways, his mind was putting together an odd picture of this new manager. He figured that Yugi would be rather old, maybe a withered shell of a man that had nothing better to do with his time than stare at the scantily clad chorus girls and sit around doing nothing, and would try to take automatic control of the opera house because he was older than Marik.

His thoughts were derailed when he passed by the chapel when he heard crying, which piqued his curiosity, so he paused and waited to hear if there was really a problem. Nosey, yes, but it helped to know who was having the emotional breakdown so he could give Marik a heads up and any destructive behavior could be cut off before it began. On the less noble side, it was always nice to know someone was having a worse day than you were. "My Angel!" a familiar voice shrieked out as Yami plastered his back against the wall with his hands over his ears. "Why have you forsaken me?! Teach me, please! I will not turn my back on you!" she shouted while sobbing as Yami felt his heart hammering in his chest, having been caught off guard.

He rushed away from the chapel area as quick as he could and eventually found himself in the corridors, now rubbing his ears to mute the ringing that Tea had caused while she was wailing. "I wonder if they will be angry at me if I remove her ability to talk." He muttered to himself and skulked down the corridors of the east wing rooms—past Marik and Malik's joint room on the right across from a storage room, Bakura's room on the left with Ryou's room right across from him, than the last set of rooms was an empty room on the left and the room on the right was cracked open a bit.

"It is a pity you do not have the ambition to take a leading male role, Mr. Motou. You voice could draw in more crowds than Joseph could." Yami heard Mai state in a wistful tone. "His accent is so dreadful sometimes and I wish he would work on ridding himself of it."

"To each their own, Ms. Valentine." A calm, rather beautiful voice stated as Yami froze on the spot. That was not the voice of a withered old man; that was the voice of someone that was in those middle years of his life. At that moment Yami's heart began beating a bit faster, only this time he had not been scared out of his wits by a shrill voice. "I hate to be rude, but I think it is getting a bit late." 'Mr. Motou' stated as Yami heard the swish of Mai's skirts, warning him that she had just stood up, and the Phantom silently crossed the corridor and carefully opened the door of the storage room and slipped into the room while closing the door.

That was luck on his part because as he was closing the door enough to cover him he seen Mai opening the door to Yugi's room a bit more and emerged in the middle of a giggling fit. "Your still such a cutie, Yugi!" Mai cooed as a young man with tri-colored hair in a low ponytail followed her, brushing blonde bangs from his purple eyes. He blushed as she pinched his cheeks like a dotting grandmother. "I miss those simple times when your father would sit and play the violin for us."

"As do I, Mai." He answered with a sad smile, one that made Yami frown because that look did not fit the young man at all. The two than hugged as the observing Phantom grit his teeth, not liking this touching scene one bit. He may not have met Yugi officially, but he already viewed the young man as his and no one would take that away from him. "Father would be proud of you, having achieved your dream at such a young age." He added as she laughed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

"With a teacher like you, my understudy will surpass even my reputation!" Mai proudly told the shadows of the corridor as she moved away from Yugi, twirling a few times with laughter. "I can safely retire at the peak of my career and proudly tell people that I found the unpolished diamond among a sea of pebbles and my own teacher to help polish her rough edges!" with that she disappeared down the corridor laughing at her genius while Yugi just watched with a deep blush of embarrassment.

"Mai, you haven't changed one bit, have you?" he asked himself as he brought both hands up and covered his face. "At least fame has not destroyed that fun loving friend I grew up with." Yugi muttered before he entered his room again and shut the door behind him. Yami took that opportunity to get to his feet and slip out of the storage room and made his way back to his own home with a good bit on his mind now.

* * *

Malik sighed as he watched Bakura and Marik argue about something that was wrong with the orchestra while Ryou was practicing his violin in the background. It was than Yami darted into the room, causing Ryou to mess up the section of music he had been working on and the argument to abruptly stop. "Where's the fire?" Malik asked as the corner of Yami's mouth twitched upward.

"What do you think of Yugi Motou?" Marik drawled out with a smug smirk as Yami was silent, but they could barley see a hint of a blush on his cheeks.

"How would I go about… wooing said new manager?" he asked nervously as Marik and Bakura were by him in the blink of the eye and dragging him into the kitchen.

"I feel sorry for Mr. Motou already." Ryou told a snickering Malik. "Should we help him?"

"Which one?" Malik asked with an innocent look as Ryou sighed in defeat and retreated to practice some more.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews! Not many questions to answer, or ones that will be answered in time.


	3. Chapter 3

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Not much happened in Yugi's first week at the Opera Populaire, besides settling in and trying to figure out why Maestro Bakura snickered whenever he entered a room. It was now Monday night, after the first full dress rehearsal for _Hannibal_, and Yugi found himself being physically dragged in to the cleanest storage room her ever seen. When his head caught up with him he found that there was a covered, round table in the center of the room with six chairs spaced evenly around it. Bakura and Marik were grinning insanely while a resigned Ryou and Malik slipped past them to stand on either side of their respective lovers. "Well, Yugi, welcome to your first game with us!" Bakura happily proclaimed as he and Marik than moved forward and plopped the disheveled young man down in to the nearest a chair before moving to their own chairs, which were across from the confused young man.

"Sorry, but they so wanted to get some new blood into our games and thought of you at the last minute." Ryou explained, as if this was a typical event, as he sat down to Bakura's left and pulled out a baggy of multi-colored hard candy, which he dumped out and began to sort into colors. Yugi just blinked a few times before he righted his un-tucked dress shirt and pulled the hair tie from his hair and rebound his errant hair at the nape of his neck, since old habits demanded that he at least made sure he was still presentable despite everything. Sitting straight up in the chair he glanced at Ryou and watched him sort the candy, his confusion must have shown on his face because Malik silently slid into the seat to Yugi's right, leaving the one to the second manager's left open.

"No money exchanges hands here, to troublesome since those two will just gamble or drink it away later tonight." Malik explained motioning to the two men that were still whispering to one another while occasionally glancing Yugi's way. Malik did not think Yugi would appreciate to know that the real reason why they stopped playing for money was because Yami always won their money, leaving them broke at the end of the night and than lent the money back at a high interest. In the end, hard candy was safer. The blonde paper pusher shook his head and pulled a worn deck from his pocket and sat it on the table in front of him with a sigh. "Don't mind them, anyways, they are just five-year-olds stuck in the bodies of adults." He added as a second thought as Yugi sat back, arms crossed over his chest with a weird expression on his face.

"You will adjust to their antics, in time. Before you know it you'll be retaliating to anything they do without really caring about any thing at the end of the day!" Ryou happily stated as he began to split the colored candies into equal piles of each color. Bakura and Marik stopped and stared at the violinist with a hint of suspicion while Malik covered his eyes and bowed his head, but Ryou just ignored them while Yugi sighed. When the tri-color haired young man agreed to work at the Opera Populaire he did not think that the management was this insane! "I wonder where Yami is, he is usually very punctual." He commented before starting to hum with his sorting.

"Before we abducted dear Yugi from the boredom of his rooms, he was trying to get his ears to stop ringing. It seems that the a certain banshee was wailing again." Bakura stated with a shiver. "He also said he wanted to get some good wine for this game, as per our tradition to toast to good luck and a good production and leave at least one extra glass to the devil as a bribe to stay away for the night."

"Since human sacrifice is frowned upon and we didn't think the devil would appreciate the souls of hobos." Marik added as Yugi just stared at them, much like Ryou and Malik because this was something they had never heard before. It was at that moment the Maestro and first manager dissolved into hysterical laughter, but the three others in the room had no idea if it was really a joke.

"So, Yugi, how about you start shuffling the deck." Malik stated in an attempt to break the tension that the laughter had just heightened, pushing the worn deck of cards to the still frozen Yugi. "Yugi?" he asked as the second manager shook himself out of his stupor and picked the deck up and began to do as asked. Ryou began to distribute the final piles to the people at the table, leaving one in front of the still empty chair, and sat back and watched Yugi shuffle. The violinist than asked whatever deity watching over the opera house that Yami did not follow whatever instructions his lover and Marik had given him to the letter.

* * *

Yami swore he was going to dye their hair pink and dress the two jackals he called friends in frilly dresses and leave them in the darkest part of the red light district with nothing but a single knife to defend themselves. He figured that would be the proper punishment for them and their hair-brained plans to help him 'woo' the new manager. After four days of stalking said newcomer, and gaining a new obsession besides playing card games, he had branched out and began to observe other people in courtship and outings. It also gave him new reasons to 'people watch' when he slipped out into the city life in the late afternoons.

He sighed and adjusted his hold on the wooden box of wine glasses, careful to keep the wine bottle that was on top of the box from tipping too far to the side. It would not do good to break tradition by breaking the wine bottle! They did not need a failed production on top of the usual troubles He entered the storage room, thankful that the door was open, and seen that the others had brought the new manager to the game, causing him to freeze in the doorway. "Yami, you made it!" Ryou stated cheerfully with a wave as all eyes in the room turned to him, especially the purple eyes of the manager he had been stalking. The mask and hat wearing man carefully moved into the room, trying to steady his nerves as he sat the box down in front of Malik and moved to his seat to Yugi's left.

"Did you take time to ferment that yourself?" Bakura asked sardonically as Malik moved the bottle of wine off of the box and opened it as Yami sat down. Marik leaned forward and grabbed the bottle of wine, watching as Yami fidgeted nervously as Yugi sat the card deck down in the middle of the table and tried to not look too nervous.

"Now Bakura." Ryou stated in warning as Marik fished a corkscrew from his pocket and set about opening the wine. "How rude of us! Yugi, our talented new manager, meet Yami, our talented old friend." He stated as Yugi turned to Yami and extended a hand with a smile.

"A pleasure to meet you, Yami." Yugi stated as Yami reached out and confidently grasped Yugi's hand in his own gloved hand.

"Like wise, Yugi." Yami stated with a hint of a smile as Yugi blushed with the dark, seductive tone of his voice. That blush darkened a bit more when Yami did not let go of his automatically.

"Hurry up, Marik." Bakura hissed as Marik handed the now open bottle to Malik, who had seven wine glasses out but was staring at the exchange. "Malik!" he stated as the other blonde shook his head and took the bottle as Yami and Yugi pulled their hands back and tried their best not to look at one another.

"Damn it." Marik muttered and grabbed the cards before he sat back down and began to deal out seven cards to each person while Malik poured the wine and distributed the glasses. "Now raise your glasses to toast the rapidly approaching production _Hannibal_." He stated as everything picked their glasses and held them up, except the seventh glass, which sat in the center of the table.

"May all the voices ring clear and loud and the orchestra be spot on in tempos." Bakura stated as glasses clinked together.

"May the props and backgrounds hold up and the stagehands be dry as a desert till Monday." Marik stated as they all clinked glasses again.

"I want to see a decent profit or else." Malik stated in a menacing tone as the glasses clinked and Yugi bit his lip, since it was his turn in the rotation.

"May the costumes be ready on time and the ballet rats prepared to be as close to perfect as possible." Yugi stated in a nervous tone as the glasses clinked with a few chuckles.

"To the elephant!" Yami stated as the glasses clinked with true laughter.

"To the party when this production is done." Ryou finished as the glasses clinked and this time everyone drank from their glasses and sat them down.

"The game is poker, my friends, and the blue candy is worth the most with the white the least." Marik declared as the cards were picked up and the nighttime fun began.

Seven hands later, around three glasses of wine, had Bakura and Marik out of the game with Ryou and Malik barley holding their own against Yami and Yugi. "So, Yugi, you seem to be rather friendly with our lovely Prima Donna." Bakura stated as Yugi raised the candy pot with two blue pieces and two red.

"Mai and I grew up together." Yugi told him as Yami met his bet while Ryou and Malik folded. "When I was younger we also attended singing lessons together, back then things were so simple." He added in a wistful tone as Yami called and they laid down their hands, showing that Yami had a full house of jacks over tens while Yugi had four aces.

"Childhood sweethearts?" Malik asked as the cards were gathered up by Ryou and shuffled while a laughing Yugi claimed his spoils.

"Heavens no!" the second manager stated covering his mouth as everyone stared at him. "Mai is my cousin! It would be way too awkward to have **that** type of relationship with her, especially since I see her more of a sister than a cousin." He told them as Yami relaxed a bit, pleased to find that he had no real rival for Yugi's heart.

"Good, it may have been very awkward for us if you both had been in an… intimate relationship." Bakura admitted with a sigh of relief. He knew Yami could get insanely possessive when he found something he wanted and the fact he had taken to stalking Yugi so quickly meant that the boy would have to be very discrete if he had any intimate relationships. The other reason for his sigh was because Mai was the opera's golden goose and if she was lost they would have issues replacing her, since her understudy Rebecca Hawkins had just started taking lessons to prepare her for the potential role of Prima Donna. "On that note, are you seeing anyone? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Lady of the Night?" he asked with the ease of a practice gossiper, leaning forward a bit as Ryou dealt the cards and Yugi blushed again.

"They have been biting at the bit for this chance since you began." Malik told Yugi while picking up and evaluating his hand with a frown. Yugi picked his cards up and tried to hide behind them, away from the inquiring gaze of the Maestro and the intense gaze of Yami.

"No, no, no, and it depends on the vampire but no." the second manager answered as Marik snickered while Yami dropped a few cards at the last part of the answer and quickly moved to pick them up. "Any other burning questions?" he drawled out and picked up his half full glass of wine and took a swig.

"You don't seem to be disgusted by homosexual couples." Malik stated, mostly as an observation, but Yugi knew what was being asked, even through the small alcohol buzz that was developing.

"Love is love, how can a person limit such because of gender?" Yugi asked sitting his glass down before plucking two cards from his hand and put them down. "Two cards." He added as Ryou dealt him two more.

"I say we keep him, he's so cute… just like a kitten!" Marik cooed as he moved around the table to lean on the back of Yugi's chair while pinching the young man's left cheek while the others laughed, even more when Yugi batted his hand away with a glare.

"How about it, Yami? Could always put a nice collar around his neck with a bell and train him…" Bakura stated, trailing off deliberately as Ryou glared at his lover. Yami folded his hand and reached up to pull the brim of his hat down a bit more. The Phantom did not need that mental image. He was already a blushing wreck and the thought of putting a collar around Yugi's pale throat, maybe training the young man to curl up in his bed and other things…

"I think you actually broke him this time, Bakura." Marik remarked as he moved and poked Yami in the shoulder. After that Yugi folded his hand and decided to turn in for the night and Yami had yet to return from his thoughts.

"Well, at least we know what to aim for in December." Malik stated with a snicker as Ryou groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"Let's just get through this week." The violinist remarked as Bakura moved to get to his feet, but had some issues and fell off of his chair. Before he fell to the ground the Maestro had grabbed the edge of the table covering and took it with him, spilling the wine that had been sitting in the middle of the table.

"Oh hell." Was the eloquent statement from Yami, who looked up when he heard the commotion and seen the spilled wine.

* * *

**A/N:** Not to amazing, but this chapter serves some purpose... I think. Next chapter takes place during _Hannibal._


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

The rest of the week passed by in a blur of long rehearsals and shouting and before any knew it was Friday morning, but Marik was freaking out as he read a note that had arrived via a private messenger from Joseph Wheeler. The blonde man was already swearing a blue streak of curses on the blonde signor's head and doubting his parentage before doubling back to cursing the fact that the spilled wine had brought trouble to the production. Malik watched his husband pace the length of his office with such a sour look that could have frozen even Jack the Ripper if they had met at that moment. "I refuse to refund a _full house_ because that arrogant whelp refuses to sing till we double his contract!" Marik bellowed as he stopped and lashed out, punching the nearest wall and causing Malik to look up from the papers he had been going through at Marik's desk. "We are over paying him now for a voice that is both getting old and the fact that Mai draws in the crowds…" he trailed off.

Malik took this chance to look through the drawers, pulling out old newspaper clippings before searching for the donation list and ledgers. Spreading the papers our Marik moved to the desk as the door opened to the office and Bakura peeked in, looking rather uneasy since he had heard the echoes of Marik's rant. "Isn't it a bit early to be accusing someone of being the 'son of a drunken transsexual swine and a greedy and gaudy magpie prostitute that was high' without the use of high grade alcohol." The Maestro stated with a weary look in his eyes, not wanting to enter in a conversation when Marik looked ready to throw letter openers again. "Malik, are the letter openers…"

"Out of reach, but there are fountain pens." The blonde paper pusher cheerfully told Bakura without looking up from his papers, causing said man to curse under his breath while hiding behind the door he kept cracked open.

"Wheeler is trying to get double his already exorbitant pay." Marik told the Maestro, who threw the door open and stalked in, throwing his fear to the wind in light of his own anger.

"The annoying little bastard already makes twice as much as we do and rips our profits a new one every show!" Bakura hissed out as Malik shook his head at their grumbling and than sat back in the chair, waiting for them to wind down in their curses.

"Well, if we can find a leading man that knows the entire show from beginning to end or could learn it in… eight hours we would be free to have that wild party you both want." Malik told them as he stretched his arms above his head and leaned back, pleased as the cat that caught the canary when their attention turned fully to him in mid insult. "Think about it this way, if you will, if dear Joseph finds himself replaced the Opera Populaire will no longer be hurting for funds. If we can find a voice that _compliments_ Prima Donna Mai Valentine's own, he will be ruined!" he declared as both nodded.

"We know that, but we are missing one variable in this perfect equation to get the perfect outcome. A leading male voice." Bakura deadpanned as Malik began to laugh at them, pitching forward and gripping the edge of the desk to stay in his chair. "What?" he asked in confusion as Marik stood up with arms crossed, frowning at the unusual behavior his husband was displaying.

"Yugi Motou!" the blonde paper pusher stated getting to his feet. "Mai is here for the final once over of her wardrobe with the seamstresses, get the entire crew together and run through the major number… the one where Hannibal returns to Rome." He added as Marik's jaw dropped and he was out of the room followed by Bakura, leaving Malik to smirk. "It pays to be the brains of this operation."

* * *

Yugi had returned from his run to the local bakery, deciding it was a good day to buy some fresh pastries since the production was later that day and sugar always helped people to keep going, when he found himself being drug into the opera house by a frantic Marik. After that the afternoon blurred from the impromptu practice of the one number to the official declaration that he would take Joseph's spot in that nights production. The poor second manager than found himself held hostage by the seamstresses, all of them focused on quickly refitting of all of Joseph's costumes, and now it was close to the beginning of the production and Yugi was patiently sitting through the make-up and dressing.

Well, patient was what everyone seen when they looked at him but on the inside he was nervous as all hell. Being on the stage, in public at a major opera house meant that there was a slim chance that someone would recognize him. A good chance that he could be found again. "You look oddly nervous." A voice drawled out as Malik entered the room just as Yugi stood up to have the rest of his attire secured in place.

"I really don't want to be on the stage." Yugi told him in a rather stressed voice as the women declared him ready to perform and left to help the other ladies get Mai ready.

"Why?" Malik asked as he leaned against the doorway.

"There is a reason why I try to keep a low profile." The second manager stated vaguely, almost whining as he turned to glare at the mirror in the dressing room that was meant for the blonde tenor. "Every where I go, no matter what I do, they always find me and than the vicious circle of trouble and pain starts all over again!" he all but shouted and plopped down, leaning his head back so that he did not disturb the make-up.

"Who are 'they'?" Malik asked with a frown as Yugi groaned.

"My grandfather was the former owner of this opera house, when he left I had the chance to return to a job I liked without him looking over my shoulder and trying to monitor my every move. He has done that ever since my parents died and I have had not had a moments peace." The manager admitted as he closed his eyes and tried to relax. "I used to sing at another opera house, until dear old Grandfather decided that I should get married and tried to force me into an engagement." He continued as Malik looked shocked.

"Solomon always seemed like such a nice man." The paper pusher mused with a wistful look, but his mind was already processing everything being told to him in Yugi's fit of anxiety. "Why did you stop singing?" he asked out of curiosity, wanting the real reason since Yugi was rather vague.

"He didn't think that singing or teaching people to sing was the proper occupation for his heir, he wanted me to get into politics and take over the family business while settling down with a pretty wife and having kids. He did everything in his power to make sure I would not have time to practice my lines or would schedule things to conflict with rehearsal days so I could not make it because I had to be there." He elaborated as Malik pressed a hand to his mouth, eyes wide in shock. "Basically he wanted me to be who he was and not myself. So I broke the engagement he set up for me, packed what little I considered mine, and left without anyone knowing. I am of age so it isn't like I ran away."

"You're a damn good singer, Yugi, and Ms. Hawkins is improving at a rate that could have been once impossible for any here." Malik empathically told Yugi, who was still slumped down in the chair. "Marik likes you, Bakura likes you, and Ryou is happy to have an ally in arms when it comes to dealing with them and I am not there. Hell, Yami approves of you and he usually hates everyone!"

"Ah?" the second manager muttered as the blonde looked determined now, the hand falling from his mouth.

"If they try anything, they will regret it." With that the blonde left the dressing room with a weight on his shoulders and little time to tell Marik or Bakura about what he discovered. He knew that Yami was already seated in his private box, Box Five, and telling him anything would have to wait till either the intermission or the end of the opera.

* * *

Hours passed and Marik was smugly sauntering out his private box, shivering as the audience's clapping and whistles echoed around him in the corridor. His head was reeling because the cast had received a full _standing_ ovation with calls for an encore. An encore! He giggled and started to waltz down the corridor in happiness, occasionally twirling around. "Have you been dabbling into the local moonshine again?" a voice asked as he paused in his happy dance to stare at a rather worried Malik, who had been lurking around the back of the audience.

"He was perfect!" Marik declared as he darted forward and pulled his husband into a waltz, causing Malik to yelp in shock as he was suddenly twirled around a few times and than dipped back and engaged in a rather passionate kiss. Marik pulled back, but kept his dazed husband in the dip. "Both of their voices were wonderful, the audience was completely enraptured."

"They were." Malik stated in a daze as a blush spread across his cheeks.

"Wheeler's lackeys ran away with their tales between their legs. We got an encore!" the manager excitedly stated as he pulled Malik back up to his feet and began to waltz again. "Yugi is staying, I don't care about old Solomon nor the crazy stalkers. Yami is more than capable of keeping them away and I know Bakura will do the same, I'll be damned if we have to crawl back to that hack of a singer!" he added in a growl and stopped waltzing as men and women began to file out of the private boxes animatedly complimenting the new tenor and how he complimented Prima Donna Mai.

"Best go and mingle, get a grasp." Malik whispered and pulled away from his husband, scampering through the crowd as Marik grinned. This would be a good night for him and he hoped his husband was up for celebrating. With that perverse thought, and several others like it, in mind he sauntered after those in that had been in the private boxes.

It took around ten minutes for all those attending to fill the large foyer of the Opera Populaire while waiters served champagne and people mingled. Marik had been hearing many favorable reviews from old patrons and even the two owners, who were pleased with the change, and now he was inwardly he was cackling with glee because Signor Joseph Wheeler was unseated from his position at this opera house! "I demand to see Yugi Motou!" a rather grating voice loudly declared as Marik turned and seen a rather pretty Asian girl in a heavy, expensive silk dress with her straight black hair bound in a tradition bun and loops with golden trinkets. "I demand to see my wayward fiancé!"

"When asked, Mr. Motou said he had no love interest." Marik silkily told her as many women looked rather hopeful now that he said this and the obviously rich young woman sniffed, putting her nose into the air as three male attendants stood behind her with serious expressions on their faces. "He wears no ring and I doubt he would leave someone he loved, it doesn't seem to be in his nature." He added with narrowed eyes as the young woman glared openly at him.

"I am Vivian Wong, heiress of the largest shipping company in the Asian theater." She stated in a rather arrogant tone as many fans snapped open and whispers began. "I demand to see my Yugi, _now_ you peasant."

* * *

Yugi had stayed in his dressing room long enough to strip the costume off and dress in a simple pair of slacks and a button down shirt, which he did not button up in his haste, with socks and shoes and than he ran into Mai's open dress room and slammed the door behind him. Mai looked amused as she smoothed out the skirt of her dark purple dress and titled her head to the side in question. "Dressing room haunted?" she asked while picking up silver backed brush and than calmly began to brush her long hair out.

"I heard her voice in the crowd, seen her in one of the boxes." Yugi breathlessly stated as he made his way over to the only chair in the room that had nothing on it. When he had darted into his cousin's dressing room he had been too focused on finding a safe place to realize that the room was full of roses, chocolates, and bottles of wine with cards from her admirers with a large mirror dominating the entire wall across from the door. He than all but threw himself into the chair and pulled his knees to his chest as Mai stopped brushing her hair and looked rather confused with his answer.

"Who?" she asked sitting the brush down and picking up the wet towel she had used to wash her make-up off and approached Yugi. He looked surprised as she carefully began to wash the make-up from his face like a mother would her son, with a calm smile and a fond look in her eyes.

"Grandfather wants me to marry the heiress from the Wong family, he even had us engaged for a time!" he stated, nearly hysteric as he threaded his own fingers through his hair and began to pull. Mai threw the towel to the side, its purpose complete, and calmly wrapped her own fingers around his wrists and stopping him from pulling. "I broke it off, I don't love her. I don't even like her. When I was forced to spend time with her I began popping aspirin like they were candy!" He whimpered with his eyes squeezed shut while she pulled his hands from his hair.

"Stay here, if any one asks I'll say that you are exhausted from putting your all into this production." Mai stated and moved away from him and moved to leave. "You'll have to think of a way to deal with her in the long run." With that Mai was gone as Yugi stayed curled up, his forehead now pressed against his knees, where he sat with his eyes shut.

"You sang well tonight, _Yugi._" A dark voice purred as Yugi's head shot up with his eyes open and looking around frantically for the source of the voice. He was not afraid of a voice that seductive, he was curious to where it was coming from and hoping that he was not imagining it. He carefully got to his feet and looked around the room while carefully moving towards the large mirror as he did so, figuring it was best to watch the door. "Your voice was clear and rang with such raw emotion that it struck all listening silent with awe." The voice had dropped in tone, sounding to be nothing but whisper in his ear.

"Where are you?" Yugi asked as he stood a foot from the mirror now, his back still to it. He did not hear anything as an arm slipped around his waist, the gloved hand pressing against his ribs, and the other around his shoulders, a gloved hand cupping his chin and gently tilting his head back on to a strong shoulder while soft lips brushed against the other side of his throat.

"I am right here, my darling manager." The person whispered as hot breath tickled Yugi's throat as the manager-turned-singer shivered. "I plan on whisking you away from the party going on, hide you away from their prying eyes and visits so that you may rest till tomorrow. Are you going to fight me?" the person asked in that same dark, seductive voice. Yugi let the tension in his body melt away, leaving him rather relaxed and the man holding him took that as Yugi's answer to his question. "Thank you." The man whispered letting his arms slip from around Yugi, but the tri-color haired young man felt one of the gloves hands taking hold of his hand and he was pulled through the mirror just as the glass moved back into place, sealing his fate.

* * *

**A/N:** I know I usually wait between four and seven days to update again, but if this sits I'll forget it exists.

I forgot to add this part when I first uploaded, my bad. I was shocked at how many people picked out the use of wine for foreshadowing the next chapter. . Good show! And to Chibi Kuriboh, glad that chapter made ya' laugh and I enjoy reading your works and hope to see them updated soon.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Marik was sure that everyone in the city had heard the demands of Vivian Wong, at least be believed so from the ringing of his ears, but her distraction had given Malik the perfect chance to slip out of the foyer. Mai had than stepped forward and told them that Yugi had been overwhelmed by the crowds and was going to bow out of the after show party, luckily she did not say where Yugi was hiding. The first manager was secretly thankful for that small grace as he led a giddy Vivian through the corridors to the dressing rooms, Bakura bringing up the rear and looking like he wanted to kill the annoying Asian heiress more than she wanted to kill Tea. "After this I will whisk my Yugi away from these less than adequate lodging to my nice, five star hotel and we will be married by this weekend and off to China by Wednesday." The young woman loudly stated as her attendants were silent, but Marik was twitching with every declaration of what she and Yugi would do. The blonde man was going to enjoy turning her over to Yami if she got her hands on his second manager.

"That's nice, really it is, but Yugi has a contract with this opera house and he hardly seems the type of person to break his word on anything." Marik dryly stated as she glared at him, her dark eyes promising him a slow death. He wasn't too intimidated by her, since she would be frequenting his home turf with his allies and friends creeping around in the shadows with many places to hide the body…

"I will buy his contract out than, can't have him working _here_ can I? It would be well below his status as a noble and wealthy young man." She sneered with her nose in the air, looking distastefully at the walls and everything around her.

"That is impossible, since Yugi put in his contract that it cannot be bought out without his permission." Marik gritted out as he felt his fingers twitching, wishing he could curl his callused fingers around her slender throat and end her existence. Really, he couldn't imagine anyone mourning her death since she was so annoying and probably grating on everyone's nerves.

"I will convince my Yugi that it would be in his best interest to do so and if that fails I'll get Grandpapa Solomon to come in and convince him." She stated as Bakura paused and Marik glanced over his shoulder and seen that the Maestro was making a retreat, probably to find Yami and warn him about the new player in the game. Obviously the one Yugi was trying to get rid of, which will help everyone so long as Tea did not make herself a larger menace than she already was since she had been rather silent as of late.

Marik sighed and smoothly passed up the heiress, making it to the door of Yugi's dressing room first. He opened the door and stepped in before the rest of the party, showing a rather plain room covered with costumes that had been discarded in a haste to change between scenes with make-up scattered across the surface of a vanity but no occupant. Vivian stormed from the room as Marik followed, watching her throw open the door to Mai's dressing room and storming in. "Where is he?!" she shrieked as the first manager let out the breath he had subconsciously been holding in. He hoped to heaven or hell, or who ever was listening to him, that Yugi had either escaped to his room or Ryou had drug him off to the behind-the-scenes party that the orchestra always held during the formal party.

* * *

Yugi was definitely blushing as the mysterious man led him down the stone corridor, lit up by a lantern that had been placed five feet down the corridor. It only took a few minutes before the man stopped on the edge of an underground lake, unfortunately the temperature also dropped about five degrees and Yugi pulled his hand from the man's and set about buttoning his shirt. He got to the third button when there was a swish of fabric and a heavy, yet form cloak was settled around his shoulders with a set of hands fastening a broach at the hollow of his throat. Yugi's head shot up and found himself looking into familiar, blood red eyes and mask, causing his jaw to drop a bit and his hands to freeze. "Yami?" he asked as the Phantom smiled nervously at him.

"I apologize if it was rather forward of me." He stated as Yugi blinked a few times.

"No, I just… I mean…" Yugi trailed off as he blushed again, this time because he was not sure what to say in this situation.

"Do you still wish to join me tonight?" Yami asked turning around and picking up a long pole from the ground, to which he hooked the lantern on, while waiting for Yugi to probably reject him. The second manager tilted his head to the side as the light of the lantern briefly lit up the finish on a beautiful black gondola that was tied to the ledge where they were standing.

"I would love to." Yugi stated as Yami turned around with a surprised look. "I don't like parties much and I have nothing else to do…" the second manager trailed off as Yami smiled at him and stepped into the gondola, carefully steadying himself by thrusting the other end of the pole into the water, and than offered a hand to Yugi. The young man accepted the hand without a second thought and stepped into the gondola himself, but he chose to sit down and pulled the cloak tighter around his shoulders.

"Would you care to sing for me during this little trip?" Yami asked as he leaned down and untied the gondola, tossing the rope onto the platform where they had been standing, and than stood up and pushed away.

"What do you have in mind?" Yugi asked as he stared at the lantern, which was the only light in the entire underground. A comfortable silent fell over them, occasionally broken by the sound of water moving around the pole Yami was using to navigate them across the water. It was than Yami began to hum the opening to a song that made the second manager's eyes slowly slide shut, trying to imagine what the song would sound like with instruments. He imagined that the song would be dominated by the gothic aura of the pipe organ with the steady beat of a bass drum. Yugi could also tell that this song was meant to seduce the senses and rob anyone listening of their mind, like it was now doing to him.

"Sing once again with me  
Our strange duet  
My power over you  
Grows stronger yet  
And though you turn from me  
to glance behind  
The phantom of the opera is there  
Inside your mind." Yami suddenly snag in his deep voice, which echoed as Yugi sucked in a deep breath and began to sing the lyrics that came to mind.

* * *

Malik and Bakura slinked into the opera house underground, both carrying a lantern, and they barely felt a twinge of remorse for leaving Marik to deal with Vivian alone. "You do know that Marik will be keeping you up all night, despite the little blimp of the Asian chick." Bakura remarked as the paper-pusher came to a stop and turned to glare at him, promising a painful death. "Just trying to break the tension." The Maestro stated holding up both hands, a bit nervous at pissing off the one who held his pay in hand.

"You're just envious that he will be getting some and you can't till Monday." Malik smugly stated and turned back around and started to walk away from the white haired man, whose jaw had dropped in shock.

"You little bastard!" he hissed out and rushed to keep up with the paper-pusher. "That was hitting too far…" he trailed off and than growled, since that joke was not appropriate right now. It would be flung back in his face and Bakura was not in the mood to be bested by the blonde again.

"Congratulations, you used the gray matter instead of the one south of the waistline." Malik sarcastically stated as they came to a stop just outside the underground house, having taken the more direct route than the one that Yami had taken with Yugi. "I'm so proud of you." He added and stopped at the edge of the house as the echoes of voices could be heard.

"Are you hearing what I am hearing?" Bakura asked with an odd look on his barely lit face as Malik blinked a few times.

"Two singing, male voices." Malik answered as a third lantern came into view across where they knew the lake was. "One is definitely Yugi, but the other…"

"Is _Yami_." The Maestro stated in a whisper as both quickly ducked around the corner of the house, out of view of the approaching boat. "Holy shit, he is _actually_ singing!" the white haired man hissed out eagerly as Malik pressed his back against the wall of the house as the two got closer in the gondola.

"Think they would agree to a duet on the stage?" the blonde whispered, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Yami could sing something other than the drinking songs. The present song was making it hard for him to think, his senses ensnared.

"Couldn't get him on the stage, Yami would burn the place down before that." Bakura whispered as Yugi's vocalization was clearer and coming to a high point. It was than he hit a note that sounded almost like a dark cry and it rang in the open space, fading off into nothing, and than everything was silent.

"Beautiful." Yami stated as the two eavesdroppers heard the gondola scrapping against the makeshift pier as Yami was out of the small boat and tying it in place, He than handed the pole to Yugi, who held it up long enough for the lantern was being unhooked from its resting place, so the second manager could lay it in the boat. "Shall we?" the Phantom asked offering a hand to Yugi, who again accepted the help out of the boat and was than led into the house.

The door shut as both men let out the breath they were holding. "I think we best leave them alone." Malik commented as Bakura snickered.

"The end of that song could have been mistaken for good sex." The Maestro commented as Malik turned and hit him upside the head with a disapproving look. "What? Yugi was vocalizing could have easily been the same, especially with that cry at the end." He defended himself as the blonde man stalked away, hiding his blush in the darkness with his back to the Maestro.

"Now I won't be able to face Yugi without blushing!" he whined to himself.

* * *

From the duet to finally entering the underground house, the couple really did not pay much attention to anything else around them. Yami had disappeared into the kitchen of the house and eventually brought out a bottle of white wine with two glasses and a small basket of biscuits he had left over, sitting them down on the coffee table in the living room before he went to light fire in the fireplace. "Your house is wicked in its design and location." Yugi commented while nibbling on a biscuit, looking around at the dark blue walls with the golden accents around the ceiling edges as Yami sat down by him.

"I designed and slowly built it myself." Yami told him while popping the cork out of the wine bottle, pouring some into the glasses on the table. "Since I did not want to be in the city nor on the rural area, it was the best compromise at the time." He added picking up the glasses, handing one to Yugi who smiled and thanked him. "So, why did you work here at the Opera Populaire?"

"Freedom, opportunity, a wish to stay under the radar that did not happen." Yugi stated with a wave of the hand, sipping his wine as Yami looked curious. "Hiding from an obsessive girl that my Grandfather wants me to marry." He added and downed the rest of the wine in one go at the thought of Vivian, ignoring the burn of the alcohol as the Phantom froze at that statement.

"You might want another glass than." Yami offered and handed Yugi his untouched glass, watching as the young man quickly finished that one off. With a sigh Yami refilled the glasses as Yugi nervously shifted.

"Sorry, it is just… I don't like her at all and can we change the subject?" Yugi stated in a rush as Yami agreed and handed him one of the glasses again.

"How about I teach you some songs no opera singer knows?" Yami asked with a mischievous smile as Yugi tilted his head to the side. "I bet you can't master how to sing them." The Phantom challenged with a smirk as Yugi sat straight up with a serious look.

"What do I get if I win?" Yugi asked with a smirk as Yami chuckled and reached out, cupping Yugi's cheek in one hand as he bared his teeth in an evil grin. At that moment Yugi had no idea what he had just gotten himself into, but he did know he was not going to back down.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I realized what today was and the time table. In under a week in will be NaNoWriMo and this fic is not that epic, if anything close to being done. So I hope to finish this by 11:59 pm on Halloween (aka October 31) and not let it get lost and forgotten in a case of November Tunnel Vision and December Holiday/Loan Payment Woes.

So this would put events... maybe halfway. Several things have not been resolved yet.


	6. Chapter 6

This part is for SilverDragon-Purity, your review of the last chapter gave me an idea for what this chapter should have in it.

* * *

The production of _Hannibal_ had been the best the Opera Populaire had ever put on, the critics were raving about the replacement of Signor Joseph Wheeler with a man who's voice held more emotion that the well known singer. By Monday afternoon a small letter was sent out to Signor Wheeler about his dismissal as the leading male in the opera house, and the grapevine being what it was they heard the opera house staff cheering as they cleaned the house up to be ready for when practices began for the next opera. Unfortunately not everything was right with the world, Vivian would show up at odd times at least ten times a day to see Yugi and Tea had taken to declaring that the Phantom was stalking her and demanding that she sang the lead part in the next opera with her Yugi. That resulted in a catfight between the heiress and the chorus girl, prompting betting to take place while the upper management stayed out of it. That little event had happened in Marik's office with a note in hand from the Phantom and the first manager had just sat back and watched them claw at one another.

What was happening now, two weeks since _Hannibal_'s last performance, was a masquerade gala that Marik had decided to throw to toast the next production of _Il Muto_. Marik's true reasoning behind the masquerade was to formally introduce Yugi to the public, since they were demanding to know his name despite Vivian's shouting of his name at the party after the opening show of _Hannibal_, and to see how Yami fared in the game of keeping Yugi away from Vivian. Marik sat back in a high back chair in his and Malik's shared room, clad in a tuxedo with his usually wild hair pulled back at the nape of his neck and bound with a black ribbon and a black half face, porcelain mask sitting in his lap. "Why couldn't you have come up with a better costume than imitating Yami?" Malik asked from the adjoining bathroom as Marik snorted.

"Well, after Tea's constant shrieking about him I figure it would be the best costume. If she weasel's her scrawny ass into the party than she can make an ass of herself because we both know Yami hasn't shown anyone his true hair color." The manager drawled out as Malik was silent. "Are you ready yet? We have to be out front for the dramatic entrance and I bet the carriage driver at the back is getting antsy as all hell." He added picking the mask up from his lap and gracefully got to his feet.

"He was paid well and heavily tipped by you, Bakura, and Yami so I highly doubt he cares how long he has to wait." Malik stated and stepped from the bathroom, enjoying the dazed expression on his husband's face and the fact that the man could not speak. "Speechless? It is my lucky night." The paper pusher purred and brushed by his husband and out of their rooms as the shocked man all but ran to catch up. In the corridor he had the urge to not let Malik out for the night, and when he came to the end of the corridor he could see the same look on Bakura's face.

The Maestro was dressed as a pirate, from the eye patch to the weaponry and grungy attire, while Ryou had obviously been talking with Malik about costumes. The violinist had colored his pale hair red and than curled the ends so they fell over his bare, pale shoulders that his _dress_ showed. Yes, Ryou had dressed in a linen dress that was dark blue, off the shoulder, with an ankle length skirt with a black leather corset and a stuffed chest to fill out the bodice and black low-heeled boots. He also wore dark red lipstick and blue eye shadow with gold hoops visible in his ears and a black ribbon chocker with a silver broach with a dark blue sapphire in the center covering his Adam's apple. "I see there _was _a conspiracy a foot." Bakura dryly stated as he possessively slipped an arm around Ryou's waist while looking over Malik's choice of attire. "It also explains why you returned late." He added with a piercing look at a blushing, yet still smiling, Ryou.

Malik was wearing a white dress that had a square neckline hemmed by gold with long sleeves and required a corset as part of the under attire, which was also stuffed, and a full skirt that covered his feet and had beaded patterns of flowers. His blonde hair was carefully arranged in a bun with lilies pinned around the bun with a few pieces left free to frame his face. He wore no jewelry but the white scarf that covered his throat was more than enough to cover his Adam's apple, and his face was covered by white powder with red lipstick and rouge on his cheeks. "The effect would have been lost if I didn't." Ryou answered with a pout, standing on his toes to press a brief kiss to Bakura's lips. "You know you like our decision." The violinist purred as he brought a hand up to caress Bakura's cheek.

"It is going to be a long night." Marik muttered as he slipped his own around a Malik's waist while said blonde snapped open the lace fan he held and covered the smug grin that split his make-up covered face. "Thank mercy Yugi could not dress as such."

"Yami would not have been so understanding." Ryou stated as they made it to the carriage and seen Yugi was already seated and waiting for them. The look on his face was clearly shock followed by one that clearly said he would not question them at all and would probably deny ever knowing them if this went south.

* * *

Yami had taken care with his costume, since he would be whisking Yugi away from the party as soon as he could without raising suspicions. His appearance at the masquerade was purely to make sure his Yugi would not be plucked away by the annoying Vivian or badgered by the potential arrival of a nosy Tea. On that note, it was much better to get the manager-turned-singer drunk away from the prying eyes of the upper class and Yami had every intention of seeing what he could get away with. He did note that many ladies drifted towards him like bees to honey, to his ire as he tried to get rid of all of them.

This was the last time he ever went out in public wearing a black tunic that was open at the collar and tucked into equally black leather pants and held by a black sash, the pants tucked into nearly knee high black leather boots that had the tops folded down a few inches, with leather gloves. His mask just covered his eyes with a black bandanna tied around his head with his hair carefully hidden by it and its tied ends. The essence of a typical 'bad ass,' one could say, and he was now regretting his instinct to wear the Red Death costume he had on hand. They would have avoided him for sure than, but it was too late to slink off into the shadows and change so he settled for slinking off into the shadows and leaning against the wall in a corner where no one was venturing yet still had a good view of the entrance to the foyer.

Sighing for the hundredth time that hour, it seemed, Yami was pleased to see that the owners had arrived and made their entrance. Seto Kaiba entered in a dark blue tuxedo with a dragon mask escorted by a lovely brunette woman, who was obviously there for show and not her intelligent conversation if her wondering eye was anything to go by, followed closely by a jovial Maximillion Pegasus. Pegasus had obviously gotten into the mood and was dressed in full regalia of a king and escorting his lovely blonde wife, dressed as a regal queen, through the crowds as the chorus began singing "Masquerade" in the background with a full dance number. It appeared that Vivian had yet to arrive, probably opting for the grand, albeit late, entrance when everyone was present.

If that was the case, the perfect time to whisk his Yugi away to his underground house.

"Is he here?" a familiar, grating voice asked as Yami tilted his head to the side and seen Tea, dressed in a simple yet expensive looking pink dress clutching the had of a uneasy black haired and green eyed young man in military garb.

"Who are you looking for?" the young man asked nervously as she paused.

"The Phantom, he would be insanely jealous if he knew I had accepted your engagement." She stated with a mock pitying look at the now confused young man. Yami rolled his eyes and bit his lip, making sure he would not laugh out loud and draw more attention to himself or the fact that Kaiba and his escort were making their way towards them. "Isn't that **_the _**Seto Kaiba?" she asked in a star struck tone as the young man groaned at her short attention span.

"Such an interesting catch you have made, sir." Yami stated with a chuckle that made both spin to stare at him. The man with Tea obviously could obviously tell that Yami was being sarcastic, but Tea took it as a compliment and smiled at him and turned back to the crowds. Kaiba had deflected his escort's attention to the gathering of ladies in the far corner and than quickly made his way over to get a drink from one of the seven staffed tables of wine, champagne, or food.

"I wish I could throw her back now." The young man muttered while being drug into the open by the persistent chorus girl. Yami did laugh at that, ignoring the glare that the young man threw back at him before he was out of sight. It was than the doors were opened again and the managers arrived with their escorts and when Yami seen Ryou and Malik he had to press a hand to his lips to make sure he did not laugh or even show that he was highly amused by the situation.

"The Phantom, he's here!" Tea shrieked as many laughed at her statement, thinking it to be a part of the floorshow that had been put on.

"Thank you for such an introduction!" Marik bellowed happily, willing to adlib this just to embarrass the chorus girl. "I am the Phantom of the Opera, which is why I am also the first manager." He added with a bow as several chuckled at that statement and they moved on. Mai than entered next with a bright smile, dressed in a white toga with golden accents and sheer draping as the Goddess Aphrodite, escorted by her nameless husband, who wore a full mask and was dressed as a black smith as the God Hephaestus.

"She's so beautiful." Yami heard a few women stated in jealousy, snapping their always-available fans open to hide the fact they were whispering about the married couple. He tuned it out since that was the usual politics of those gathered, plus he knew that Yugi was up next.

"Now the guest of honor of this Masquerade Ball, our new tenor… Yugi Motou!" Marik proudly stated as Yugi entered, wearing a white knee length coat over a white dress shirt and pants with his hair pulled back at the nape of his neck in a white ribbon. Many cheered as he smiled and began to greet people with manners that had obviously been drilled into his head. Yami realized that he had not moved since Yugi entered, so he shook his head to rid himself of the odd daze that took over his mind and began to weave his way through the crowds to greet his Yugi.

* * *

Within moments of introducing Yugi to those at the masquerade party, Bakura had swept his lover on to the dance floor while the orchestra played a lively little ditty. He laughed as Ryou eagerly followed his lead, complete with spins and many moments where the violinist was pulled flush again him and blushing as he stared up at Bakura's leer. "I think that Yami for went his usual hat and cloak tonight." The Maestro breathlessly whispered into Ryou's ear while the ditty turned into a dance neither knew, while sweeping his lover off of the dance floor and towards one of the tables.

"Our little boy is growing up so fast." Ryou stated in a simpering tone, brushing away imaginary tears as Bakura brought them to a stop by one of the two wine tables. "I can see that the Banshee is here, too." He added and turned and picked up a glass of wine while Bakura scowled and seen the annoying girl hanging off the arm of a young man that wished he was obviously elsewhere.

"Darling, I think there is a hell of a dance going on now." The Maestro stated as he pointed out the dark figure moving through the crowds, occasionally stopping when someone pulled him into a conversation, while Yugi moved further away from him. Ryou giggled at this as he quickly finished his wine and his lover pulled him towards the dance floor again, obviously going to milk the night for all he could and Ryou was happy to oblige. As the waltz began Ryou realized that Marik and Malik were also waltzing with them, clearly enjoying themselves to the fullest if Malik's laughing and Marik's grinning was anything to go by.

"He looks positively annoyed!" Marik proudly told Bakura when the two couples were by one another. It was no question to whom they were discussing now seeing Yugi was now by one of the tables and Yami looked ready to kill Kaiba's escort, since he would not let him go.

"Lucky us for the 'no weapon, no killing' rule at any formal gathering." Ryou stated as Bakura spun him around one and moving past Marik and Malik as the song sped up a bit. Malik smugly watched as Yami broke away from the brunette woman and quickly crossed the distance to where Yugi was, than he casually led the manager-turned-singer off to the side, by the elbow just as the doors to the foyer were opened and Vivian Wong came strutting in with a shining smile and dressed like a geisha.

Marik looked over his husband's shoulder and seen that Yami had already disappeared with Yugi.

* * *

Yugi's mind had been left behind when Yami, he knew the man in black because no one else had such intense crimson eyes, pulled him close and into a slow dance down the deserted hallway to music that no one else could hear. "Thank you." Yugi told him as he smiled, but did not stop their dance.

"Your welcome." Yami stated as the manager in his arms blushed. "Are you ready for our party tonight?" he asked as Yugi grinned.

"As long as it is just you and me, I'll be ready for anything." Yugi muttered bringing a hand up and pulling the bandanna from Yami's head, releasing spiky tri-colored locks that went every which way while blonde bangs framed the Phantom's face. "At least let me give you a gift for saving me from the boredom of that party." With that Yugi threaded his fingers through Yami's hair and pulled his down an inch into a kiss that made the Phantom purr and deepen it.

For Yugi, this kiss was his first and it had also been a bold move on his part since he was unsure of Yami's reaction for it. For Yami, it was his first kiss as well and he believed it was his first of many claims on the young man held in his arms.

* * *

**A/N:** By now, I am rather happy that people are not trying to strangle me for not following the spirit of _Phantom of the Opera_ to the letter. It has been forever since I read the book version, which has the Underground House (I may have been to literal with making it an actual house, but I claim artistic license), and the movie events are… being used and in order, oddly enough. Yami did not seem the type for the "Red Death" costume and how many can imagine him pulling off the utterly delightful Wesley-as-Dread-Pirate-Roberts?

On that note think Bakura as Jack Sparrow, Ryou as a typical bar wench, Marik as the Phantom of the Opera, and Malik as a duchess or high society lady… and Yugi is in no specific costume, but he was a step away from being Dr. Horrible with the white get-up. I would have done a _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ but it would not have fit at all, unfortunately.

Also, in a round about and insane way, Yugi was actually written into the Christine part! Originally he was supposed to be in the Raoul part… It is bad when I realize this now. Now everyone can pity Duke Devlin, since that is her unnamed fiancee, if you like him or because he has next to no personality in this.

Up next, _Il Muto_ and compromising positions!


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

Over the course of the next month and a half months, which was mostly spent preparing for the upcoming production of _Il Muto,_ things had fallen into a rather boring routine but some interesting days had happened. In the first week of rehearsals Duke Ruuji Devlin, the man that had escorted chorus girl Tea, had broken off the engagement in light of a sudden letter from his father detailing an arranged marriage that he had just set up. After a quick, public break-up he had left the city to meet up with his father while leaving Tea to wail and cry in the opera house's small chapel. Many times, during the rehearsals the chorus was not needed, the others could hear her crying out for her Angel of Music to guide her. This resulted in her final warning about disrupting rehearsals and Madame Isis had finally decided that the best route to deal with the girl's behavior was to assign her to do chores as punishment. The dance instructor figured that it would not only be a blow to Tea's pride but also her high-and-might ego that she had gained from the engagement to the Duke, which had not faded even after the break-up.

The opera house had been a buzz about that for a week before they got bored with it and let the subject drop.

After that Vivian made several more attempts to whisk Yugi away, all resulting in odd occurrences that Tea declared work of the Phantom of the Opera. This time she was actually right, but no one was going to admit that out loud because the cast did not like Vivian at all. She interrupted their rehearsals and schedules without care and had the goal to continue such actions without even donating a decent sum of money to make up for the loss of time due to her demands! Back to the Phantom, who had tried many times to kill said heiress. The first time happened when Vivian had skittered up on stage, roughly pushing past a scowling Mai, and went to latch on to Yugi only to have one of the many hanging backdrops brought down on her. Second time she arrived, Yugi was not around but one of her attendants had nearly been strangled to death and was babbling about some sort of shadowy figure that was threatening to do worse if they did not leave his opera house. The third time was actually taking place now, but with some other factors to consider.

"Yugi Motou! I have already told you to give up this dead-end dream and where do I find you after you left the estate? In an opera house!" a cold voice echoed as an old man with spiky gray hair, most hidden under a hat, and a business suit limped in, leaning heavily on a cane. Most in the cast froze where they were, a few of the chorus girls tripping since the music had suddenly cut off with a squeal of the string instruments and they had been in the middle of a routine. Mai bit her lip as she glanced at her cousin and seen he was rather pale, if not looking ready to run at any minute.

"I have told him the same thing, Grandpa Solomon." Vivian stated in a sweet tone, one that could have made candy rot, as she followed Solomon Motou into the theater dressed in another one of her expensive dresses. "He refuses to believe me." She added as Marik, who had been sitting in one of the boxes observing the rehearsal, pulled flask, which he had taken to carrying with him since Vivian started to harass the opera house, from his pants pocket. He had it open in he blink of an eye and down part of the contents in one go before getting to his feet and stalking off to see if Yami was anywhere near the stage, since Yugi did not look to good with their appearance.

"That is enough!" Isis stated as she stalked on to the stag with her own cane firmly in hand. She stopped by Yugi and laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder as a sign that she stood by him, literally and figuratively, and glared at the two that stormed in. "You, Miss Wong, have treated this opera house like it is your own personal business and we do not appreciate the fact that you interrupt our rehearsals so!" she stated sharply as Yugi shivered at her tone, but did not pull away. "And you, Mr. Motou, how dare you charge in here like you are still an owner of this establishment and out right berate and insult a devoted member of our cast and crew! We do not tell you how to run your business and it would be appreciated that you do not believe you still have vested money in this opera house since you had tried to run us into the ground before you were forced to give up your controlling share!" she added as no one on the stage or in the orchestra moved with Isis's speech.

"What?" a few voices croaked out in unison as Maestro Bakura slowly turned to glare venomously at the now sweating old man.

"You deliberately inflicted Joey Wheeler on us?" he hissed out as Mai was glaring this time.

"So all those mishaps that happened over the course of my days as Prima Donna in this house— the throat sprays that would render me unable to sing, the sleep-drug laced drinks, threatening notes from this unknown Phantom— were because of you?" she asked, her voice raising until she was nearly shouting at her Grandfather. "You sabotaged our performances?"

"I did nothing of the sort!" Solomon stated with his own glare, having pulled together the last of his resolve to stand against this defamation of character. "How dare you accuse me of such actions! I will have your hides for this!"

"That would not be wise, Grandfather." Yugi stated in a shaky, but slightly strong tone as attention turned to him. "The other opera houses you owned had the same issues, especially the first one I ever sang at. I bet your ledgers would show certain payments to people that do not exist or companies that do not have what is marked down." He added as Solomon glared at him.

"You do not know what you are talking about, boy." The older man hissed out as Yugi flinched at the tone.

"I do, I also know that those houses will back up my claim because what Mai said fits what happened to me and three others I worked with over the years before you forced me back to the estate." He added confidently as Vivian frowned and Solomon bared his teeth in a sneer that would have best fit a rabid dog.

"No grandson of mine will be a opera singer! You will either quit this foolish behavior or be disowned from the family and cast out into the streets, penniless for the rest of your days." The older man stated as his sneer turned into a confident smirk, believing that he had finally hit his grandson where it hurt. Solomon believed that Yugi would not survive without him or the family to back him up in anything he did.

"I would rather be penniless in the streets than stuck in your repressive household listening to your rules and regulations for how I should run my life and who I should marry!" Yugi shouted back, making a few take a step back at the angry tone in the usually calm and reserved manager-turned-singer's voice. With that the tri-color haired young man took a deep breath and stalked off of the stage, ignoring everyone he passed on the way to his room.

"I think that is all for today, ladies and gentlemen. We will pick up the lost time tomorrow where if we get guests that did not schedule an appoint they will be meeting the cops." Bakura stated as Isis nodded and both glared at the shocked Solomon and Vivian. "Be gone, before I call a priest to exorcise you as poltergeists." With that everyone began to slowly make their way off the stage and out of the orchestra pit to whatever they do on their off hours, be it extra practicing or drinking or gambling.

* * *

Bakura and Ryou sat in front of the desk where Malik sat with a shocked Marik sitting on the arm of the chair. They had gotten together for an impromptu meeting around five that afternoon, roughly three hours since the main event of the day had happened. Most around the opera house had began to call it 'The Fallout' and Malik had swiped Marik's flash and downed some after hearing about it. "I vote we kill Vivian and make it look like a terrible accident." Ryou stated as all stared at him like he had grown a second head. "What?" he asked with a frown.

"You actually want to… kill someone?" Marik asked slowly, as if not believing what he had just heard. A few more moments of awkward silence made Bakura shift nervously in his chair, but that was broken when Marik leaned down and kissed a now flailing Malik on the lips.

"No screwing while we are here!" Ryou shrieked as Marik pulled away from a now dazed Malik.

"This is not a dream and the world is back on track." The first manager stated breathlessly and with a lazy grin. "I second Ryou's uncharacteristic vote and would like an answer to why he spoke up before the rest of us." He added with his left hand up while Malik tried to right himself, but could not keep the silly grin off of his face.

"These distractions, most of which are caused by her, are bringing down the prestige of our opera performances and my violin strings are suffering the damage of sudden stops and if I need to replace them, prematurely, there will be hell to pay!" he vehemently stated with narrowed eyes as Bakura slapped his forehead. While Ryou could roll with any punches, take any event and keep going, when it came to his violin he would sooner kill someone than have it injured in any way, shape, or form.

"He loves his violin more than me." Bakura dryly told them without removing his hand from his eyes as Ryou nodded in agreement.

"Are you implying that if we set Tea up to kidnap your violin, you would have voted to have her killed?" Malik deadpanned as Ryou nodded again. "Son of a…" the paper pusher trailed off as Marik maneuvered himself so that he draped a leg across Malik's lap, keeping the paper pusher in the chair.

"Now, now. We are discussing Vivian's fate and Yugi's mental health." Marik chided his husband, who glared at him.

"Yes to Vivian's death." Malik stated as he flopped backwards with a sigh.

"Same here." Bakura stated as he raised his hand. "We all know Yami's vote on the matter."

"Still, we should get his input before we assume anything." Ryou mused as he got to his feet. "You never know what fun stuff he may have in mind, considering the fact he is now living up to his unofficial title as 'Phantom of the Opera' with his random attempts to kill her."

"Makes you think a bit more with what Yugi and Isis said about Solomon Motou." Bakura chimed in as he also got to his feet, Malik and Marik eventually following. Ryou moved to open on of the many secret passages, but Bakura stopped him and glanced at the manager with a grin.

"Yami has been stalking the rehearsals since he and Yugi became official, which means there is a good chance I heard _everything_." Bakura stated as he moved to exit the office through the door, but paused in the doorway and glanced back at them with a grin. "We have a better chance of finding both in Yugi's room."

"What do you know that we don't know, oh wise Maestro?" Marik asked as the Maestro turned and leaned against the doorframe, grinning.

"With the routine they have established, due to the fact that Yami is definitely possessive of our new golden goose, they are probably in Yugi's room since it is hard to be ready for anything when you are reclusive. Factor in the public falling out with dear ole Solomon and the fact that Yugi will be staying close to Mai." Bakura stated with a shrug.

"That is amazingly logical for you. How did you arrive at that last statement about Mai?" Malik asked with a skeptical look, not at all impressed with the white haired man's sudden stroke of brilliance.

"Mai brought up the sabotage around her and Yugi is her cousin. In return Yugi is protective of Mai, has been since they reunited here. Concluding my brilliant deduction, Yugi will probably ask Yami to watch over Mai and that may lead to Yami and Yugi sharing a room." He stated bringing a hand up to inspect his nails as Ryou's jaw dropped and the blondes were just taken back. "If they retreat to the underground house, they would leave Mai to fend for herself and let a good chance to do a little house cleaning go unused. If they stay on the main levels, there is a good chance…"

"Self-defense!" Malik shouted as he got to his feet, causing Marik to jump, and grinned. "If Vivian breaks in he could mistake her for a trespasser or a burglar, or Solomon's Phantom and… and…" he trailed off, nearly hyperventilating in joy as Marik patted his husband on the back.

"Breathe, darling, deep breaths. Does a body good." Marik cooed as Malik calmed down enough to turn and glare at his husband over his shoulder.

"Let's go find the love birds and get some preliminary plans in motion." Bakura stated and left, the others scrambling to catch up with him.

* * *

Yami grinned as he lounged on Yugi's rather comfortable bed, obviously in the young man's room as Bakura had suspected, with his arms around Yugi, who was pleasantly buzzed and sleeping. Upon the airing of the dirty laundry and the falling out, Yami had decided that his lover would need something to help him to relax and had brought up a bottle of good cognac and proceeded to relax the singer. In the end Yami had managed to get Yugi out of his shirt, Yugi in turn had stripped him over his cape and vest and had unbuttoned the shirt he wore, before they tumbled on to the bed and the manager-turned-singer curled up half on top of Yami with their legs entwined. Yugi muttered something about pancakes before he turned and buried his face into the crook of Yami's next, his right arm draped across his chest. The Phantom sighed again, mourning the loss of his favorite had for a whole minute, before he carefully brought his free hand up and maneuvered a bit to intertwine his fingers with Yugi's. Than he brought their hands up to rest over his heart, feeling more relaxed than her ever thought he could have been.

A knock at the door made him glare at the door, but there was no way in hell he was answering it. Yugi shifted again, but did not wake up. The sound of a key being inserted into the lock made his eyes narrow and the door slowly opened and a familiar head of white hair popped in. "We'll come back later." Bakura whispered and his head disappeared and the door was shut again. Yami smirked and settled into a light rest, not caring the least bit about them being caught.

* * *

Bakura shut the door before the others could peer in, his jaw had dropped open as he stared at the door and processed what he had just seen. "Let's do some planning our selves and tell Yami later… like tomorrow." He stated as Marik looked curious while Malik and Ryou were confused.

"What did you see?" Marik asked crossing his arms, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"My death if we entered that room before he was ready for us." He stated with a shiver as Ryou blushed and Malik's jaw literally dropped at the implications of that statement.

"Were they…" Marik trailed off as he caught the unsaid statement.

"Yugi was shirtless, I think, but if Yami could kill with a glare I'd be ashes." The Maestro admitted and backed away from the door. "We will know when they took the final leap, he'll have no mask and Yugi will be gone for a few days." They heard a thunk after that and turned to see Malik on the ground with a lecherous grin on his face.

"That is different." Ryou remarked as he prodded the blonde in the side with the tip of his shoe while Bakura slapped his forehead and Marik leaned down and heaved his husband up and over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"Me thinks he has a dirtier mind than the rest of us." With that they went their separate ways, but they had a new goal in mind.

They were going to make Vivian Wong wish she had never darkened the doors of the Opera Populaire.

* * *

**A/N**: Wow... the changes are... annoying as hell in the accounts. . Anyways, I apologize for not making the deadline of Halloween. Between the dashing of my real life hopes and dreams, namely a driver's license and a job, everything went to hell and has yet to return. I am just lucky my soul belongs to the bank due to college loans, and credit card (but the credit card is under thousands). Anyways, I'll update this after every thousand I hit this month (I hope, which works since I need a break from that cause my original characters are killing my brain).

On that note, I promie to not abandon this! It will be finished!

A questionw as asked about _Il Muto_ and, if I remember correctly, it translates into "The Mute" and I have no idea what this opera is about. At best I will use what the movie used, due to my lack of knowledge about it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Slight Warning:** Marik's stress induced language.

* * *

Solomon and Vivian had kept their distance from the Opera Populaire after Yugi's declarations and the statements about the older Motou's underhanded means of destroying the opera. A week of peace had passed with Marik and Bakura biding their time before they decided to interrogate Yami, seeing it would have done no good to question him while he overly stressed about Yugi's safety. Now the grace period had ended and they decided to set up a small get together to help break the new tension that had developed due to the paranoia about Solomon implementing his previous tactics to take care of the shows. This time it was Bakura and Ryou that set up the dinner in the Underground House, since Marik and Malik cooking would immediately tip Yami off to the fact that they wanted something. Instead, Malik and Marik had drug Yugi down to the Underground House as a means of making sure Yami arrived.

That was how Yugi came to be sitting on a comfortable couch with a cup of coffee, nervously looking around the dimly lit room while Marik and Malik stared at him. "I didn't do it." Yugi suddenly stated as both frowned and looked at one another.

"Do what?" Malik asked as Yugi's nose twitched and he looked longingly at the door from the corner of his eye.

"I don't know, but whatever it is I didn't do it. Honestly, I'm innocent!" he loudly protested as Bakura and Ryou entered the living room from the kitchen where they had been preparing dinner, obviously curious about why Yugi raised his voice. They understood once they saw how jumpy Yugi was, with a look on his face that clearly said he was ready to bolt from the house and this caused them to look at one another in confusion before they turned to stare at the blondes.

"Innocent of what, exactly?" Ryou asked as Yugi glared at them.

"I'm not sure, but they are staring at me like I've done something." The manager-turned-singer stated waving a hand at the two blondes who sat to his left, Malik shrugged as Marik looked ready to drag out the circular conversation even more. "First you both drag me down here and now they are… I don't know what they are doing, honestly." He whimpered covering his eyes with his free hand.

"I think Yugi is stressed." Malik announced to the room, but Yugi did not respond. "How's dinner coming along?"

"Should be done in ten minutes, giving Yami enough time to get his secretive ass down here for our interrogation." Bakura proudly stated as he slipped his arms around Ryou's shoulders and kissed the side of his lover's neck, bringing a dark blush to the violinist's cheeks. "So, Yugi, how are you holding up? You took a real hit when Solomon visited with the rich little bitch." He drawled out, Yugi still did not move.

"After the airing of Gran… Mr. Motou's darker transgressions and after Yami made sure I would not be disturbed by them, I have been well. Especially after Mai visited me on Wednesday. She said that she spoke with her parents, my Aunt and Uncle, and they officially adopted me into her family as her little brother so my new surname is Kujaku and they will be in town for the opening of _Il Muto_." Yugi explained with a wistful smile, slowly pulling his hand away as the four were either grinning or smiling so he covered his eyes again to block out the disturbing image. Mentally he thanked a the foresight of not telling them that Mai had hugged the living daylights out of him for most of the evening and her husband had dropped by after she sent a note off to him about what was happening. "Speaking of Mai, I agreed to have dinner with her and her husband tonight and I would like to keep that appointment if it would not be too much to ask or too rude." He added and briefly lifted his hand up to see that Marik had tilted his head to the side and Malik shrugged while Ryou and Bakura were whispering to one another.

"When Yami arrives one of us will escort you up to the upper levels, but you know he won't be too happy about letting you out of his sight." Malik pointed out as Yugi pulled his hand away.

"We discussed this already, and at length." The manager-turned-singer admitted with a shiver. "I can't hide in the opera house forever, I will have to face them and the public outside of the parties eventually. This could be testing the waters, plus Mai worries about me and it only increased with the addition of Mr. Motou and Ms. Wong and this was the only way I could think of to sooth some of that worry." He explained as Ryou looked fond.

"Just be careful, Yugi, you know those two are up to something. They have been far too quiet as of late and we have become rather attached to you, even more so when you did not run away from our quirky little group." The violinist explained as Bakura nodded.

"Which is why I asked Mahaad and Mana to prepare a carriage to take you, Madame Valentine, and her husband to wherever you wish to. I only ask that you stay with them when you are outside of any building." A familiar voice purred as Yugi was on his feet and staring right at Yami, wearing his typical hat and half mask, who had entered the room silent as a ghost. "If anything happens to you, they can tell me and I will move heaven and hell to get you back to where you are safe." He added and moved around the couch and pulled Yugi into his arms, pressing a kiss to the shorter young man's forehead.

"How sweet!" Marik sarcastically stated and found himself pinned by an annoyed pair of crimson eyes that he could barely see from beneath a black hat and the eyeholes of the half mask. "Shutting up." He squeaked as Yugi pulled away from Yami, smiling.

"Enjoy time with your cousin. Marik, why don't you escort Yugi up to meet Mai? There has been a rumor floating around that says she needs to speak with you." Yami stated with a smile down at Yugi and a narrowed look at Marik.

"I will go with them, since I need to adjust some movements for one of the more complex numbers in the up coming production." Ryou stated as he turned and pecked his lover on the cheek and made his way towards the front door.

"Thank you Yami!" Yugi stated and leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Yami's lips and pressed the cup in his hand into Yami's own and moved past his lover towards the door, where he met up with Ryou, leaving Marik to quickly get to his feet and run after them as they exited the house. The room was silent for a few moments as Yami turned his full attention to his remaining three friends.

"Interrogation?" he asked as Bakura ducked back into the kitchen and Malik glared at him as he retreated.

* * *

Mai was definitely a woman that commanded respect and awe wherever she went. Right now Marik was wishing he had waited for Yugi to finish getting ready, or ducked into his office since he had no urge to listen to Ryou practice, before his Prima Donna caught him in the corridor alone. She wore a beautiful purple satin dress that had a high collar and long sleeves and a bustle with her blonde hair pulled up in an elegant, yet simple, bun and Marik was definitely feeling nervous under her piercing gaze and almost wished he was facing down Yami. Beside her stood a tall man with black hair and fair skin in a neat black suit, only his eyes were a shade darker than Yami's but this man could have passed for Yami's brother or cousin! "Madame Valentine, you look as beautiful as ever." He stated with a smile, eyes nervously straying over to the man that stood by her.

"Thank you, Mr. Ishtar." She stated with a nod and than smiled and glanced at the man by her. "I would like to introduce you to my husband, Lord Vincent Valentine." The man nodded after his wife introduced him and Marik was now uneasy about being left alone with them. He had heard a few rumors about Lord Vincent Valentine, most of them dealing with the man's protectiveness of his wife and family as well as having a low tolerance for people that were ruled by greed and arrogance. That did not scare him because he was not ruled by the things Lord Valentine disliked, no he feared the man because his red eyes reminded him way too much of Yami.

"My wife has told me much about you, Mr. Ishtar." The man stated with a pleasant smile as Marik tried to return it, but the blonde man knew it was forced. Thankfully Mai broke the developing tension with a smile and small squeal.

"Yugi, you look so handsome!" she stated and rushed past Marik, which caused the manager to whirl around as she passed him, and hugged Yugi.

"Do take care of them both, Lord Valentine, they are the best duo of singers this house has seen and many people would not be happy if anything happened to them." Marik stated with a nod and he quickly retreated from the scene, missing the fact that Yugi was snickering at his retreat.

"It is good to see you in good health, Yugi." Vincent politely told the young man as Mai drug her cousin over to where her husband was standing, pausing long enough to loop her arm around his and than pulled both men down the corridor and towards the front entrance where the carriage was waiting. The three gracefully got into the open top black carriage as the driver, a man with dark purple hair wearing a black top hat and worn leather coat, tipped his hat to them with a smile.

"Thank you, Mahaad." Mai told the man as he turned to the horses and flicked the reigns and the carriage was moving through the dimly lit streets. "Now, where were we?" she rhetorically asked as Yugi relaxed in his seat. "Oh yes, my dear Vincent wished to speak with you about your protection since I no longer have reason to fear anything."

"You don't have to, I don't want to trouble you too much." Yugi stated waving his hands as if to ward off something, eyes wide in shock as what his cousin had just told him.

"Yugi, you are family and I cannot let this constant harassment continue. You are a nice young man, one who obviously is worth his weight in gold, with a voice that a rare few can compete with." Vincent stated looking Yugi directly in the eye, noting the young man blushed at the compliment. "My darling has told me that you seem the happiest when you sing or teach people to sing, so why deprive the world of such talent? If anything the last time we met, in the house of your Grandfather, you seemed very depressed if not doll-like." After Vincent said that the married couple noted that Yugi now looked rather tired.

"He wants me to follow in his footsteps, to be just like him, and doesn't understand that I don't want his title or his wealth or whatever. I like my life." Yugi stated as he closed his eyes and relaxed against the seat. "Sometimes I have issues making ends meet, but so long as I stay at the opera house things are fine. I like living my life from day-to-day with the rest of the world and not trying to plan five years down the line, married to some rich and twittering woman who only thinks from party-to-party and social standing." Mai brought her hand up and covered her mouth, amused by the indirect jab at Vivian Wong at the end of Yugi's rant.

"This life does fit you. I have never seen you so relaxed and open before, even if Maestro Bakura and Mr. Ishtar a bit around the bend." Mai remarked as Yugi chuckled himself, Vincent quirking an eyebrow in question.

"They are definitely two of a kind in this world." Yugi wistfully stated as he opened his eyes and stared at his cousin and than her husband. "What do you have in mind, Lord Valentine?" he asked as the dark haired man smiled.

"Call me Vincent, Yugi, since we are family." The man stated before he gave Yugi a vague idea of what he should expect to see around the opera house in a few days. By time they reached the restaurant and made it into the front door, where they were immediately greeted by a cheerful brunette girl named Mana, who showed them to their table. By this point Yugi's head was spinning with everything he was being told by Vincent, who was obviously very serious about guarding Yugi.

* * *

After his hasty retreat from Mai, her creepy husband, and Yugi it had taken Marik fewer than five minutes to get back to the Underground House. He entered the house to see that Malik had not moved, but Bakura and decided to sprawl out on the love seat and Yami was sitting in the middle of the couch and they were waiting patiently for him. "He knows?" Marik deadpanned as Malik nodded.

"Yami isn't as slow as you are, darling." The paper pusher dryly remarked as Marik crossed the distance between him and his lover and swatted his lover on the back of the head. "What?!" Ignoring the exclamation Marik sat on the arm of the chair as Yami removed his hat, sitting it in his lap, and sighed.

"I take it you are curious about the 'Phantom' business?" he asked, drawing all attention to himself.

"Damn straight." Bakura stated as Marik and Malik decided to hold off on their argument in favor of business. "Tell us everything."

"I could force you to play twenty questions." The Phantom stated with a thoughtful look as Bakura sat up and began to wave his arms, obviously not going for that idea. "Better yet, that is exactly what I am going to do since it would annoy you greatly!" he cheerfully declared as Marik glared at the Maestro, blaming the white haired man for the present predicament.

"Question one: Were you hired by Solomon Motou?" Malik asked, seeing they were going to get nowhere arguing with their mysterious friend.

"No and, before you ask, I was not hired. When I donned this costume and began residing here it was, at first, a favor to someone and a couple months later by my own choice." Yami answered as the four relaxed just a bit, pleased to know that they would not have to break out the knives to throw at their friend.

"Question two: Was there a Phantom before you?" Marik asked and Yami was silent for a moment, mulling over how to answer that question.

"Yes, the original Phantom that the old man hired. He had been in place for three months, I believe, before I took over." He admitted without going into detail of how he took over as 'The Phantom of the Opera.' Marik was thankful for that because the less they knew about any dark dealings, especially before they banned together, the safer everyone was if something was discovered or investigated. "That man, for all of his brains and such, was a complete imbecile with his dropping of sandbags and backdrops to disrupt things at any possible time. It was not hard to figure out where he stayed or his habits, considering he was the one that paid attention to that shrill banshee in the ballet corps and played the organ at all hours of the day and night because of his insomnia."

"He's dead?" Malik carefully asked, almost afraid of the answer as Bakura frowned.

"No, I merely made him a better offer." Yami admitted with a shrug. "No use in killing people that made bad decisions, especially when he was trying to kill Signor Wheeler and not Madame Mai." Marik fell off of his perch on the arm of the chair Malik was occupying, hysterically laughing as Malik palmed his face.

"I'll bite, how did you find that little tid bit out?" Bakura asked as Yami chuckled.

"I cornered him on the catwalk with a bottle of good cognac. We sat down and began to talk about a few things before I turned the conversation to what he was going and he began to _rant_ because the old man was not happy with how he approached matters." The masked man explained as a few jaws dropped. "I made him the offer and he questioned my motives and I told him what I was doing, in turn he laughed and said that it was the best offer he had heard of since he became the Phantom. Man hated cellars and dark places, but loved his music."

"I never seen you as the charitable type." Marik snickered as Malik glared down at his husband, who was curled up in the fetal position on the floor and still snickering.

"Not charity, never charity." Yami hissed out with a glare at the blonde manager. "What I did for that man was necessity, I had to in order to ensure that nothing bad would happen." He added and got to his feet as Ryou came bursting into the house, panting as the four stared at him.

"Something happened!" he got out, taking in deep breath with a worried look. "Mai and her husband returned, but Yugi isn't with them! Mai said that someone tried to kill her and her husband while two others grabbed Yugi, taking him right from the restaurant!" he stated as Bakura was off of the love seat and hugging his lover while Yami grit his teeth.

"Do they know who perpetrated this?" he asked as Ryou shivered.

"Lord Valentine said one was speaking Chinese, that no other language could sound so harsh." The violinist answered as Marik was scowling, on his feet and cracking his knuckles.

"Vote or no vote, that bitch crossed the line." Marik stated as Yami nodded and turned to the manager. "Let's go talk with Mai and her husband before we go hunt the dead bitch walking and the old man."

"I'm coming with both of you." Bakura stated as he looked down at Ryou. "Both of you keep things here calm while we go get Yugi back, plus you are safer here than out there." With that he kissed Ryou's forehead and followed the other two from the Unground House. Ryou and Malik stared at the open door and than at one another.

"I can't find it in my heart to pity them." Ryou muttered as Malik nodded in agreement. "I just hope…"

"I know, Ryou." Malik stated, knowing the rest of what Ryou wanted to say but he did not want to hear it out loud. "I whole heartedly agree."

* * *

**A/N:** NaNo was… well, this month was rough and that is the last time I go in without notes and a vague outline. I missed writing this, only because the plot I was working with was good in my head but I don't think it translated well. Anyways, I realized the Solomon is a Count and had been using the "Mr." title and here is an explaination: using his title of "Count" is respect and look at those that talk to and about him, they have no respect for him.

Now presenting a cameo by FFVII's Vincent Valentine, only due to the fact that no other character in Yugioh caught my attention for her husband. His last name helped out, too.

Marvel at my laziness. Now I will go prod MidnightMarauder to work on her's.

**08 Jan 09:** A reviewer commented, after reading this, that a comment in this chapter could be seen as offensive and this comment deals with a line of dialouge, _"Lord Valentine said one was speaking Chinese, that no other language could sound so harsh."_ And, even if that person may not go back to read this, I would like to thank them to pointing this out. I will apologize if it sounds offensive to any that speak the Chinese language, but also this line is from the point of view of a group that rather hates Vivian and her entourage and another way of interpreting the comment could be that Chinese sounds a bit sharper than the language they speak (since it can be assumed the language is English or French, which may help when looking at it). A bit in my defense, even as an American that has watched several subtitled movies that has Chinese as a main language, and it can sound harsh depending on the emotions at the time. Hell, English can sound harsh when your scremaing obscenties or berating someone or stressed out!

Besides my bad attempt at defending myself, if this is truly offensive I will remove it if asked.


	9. Chapter 9

**Warning:** Transition/filler chapter, the purpose is to set up for what happens to Vivian and Solomon in the next chapter.

I hope that the beginning of this chapter answers your question about Ryou's unfinished, SilverDragon-Purity.

* * *

Ryou had always been the calm and level headed member of the opera house staff, from the first time Maestro Bakura pushed him against the wall and pretty much told him that they were now lovers all the way to the numerous votes about how to deal with Tea. When he was first brought into the nighttime business 'meetings' (read: poker games) that Marik, Malik, Bakura, and Yami held he had been nervous and down right uneasy about voicing his opinion, since he was just the first chair violinist. When he settled into the meetings, and accepted being Bakura's lover, he made a stand on some issues and was floored when Malik proposed new rules to the game since they finally found someone that was not brash,

The first new rule he had laid down was the 'all matters voted on must have an unanimous vote.' That was the one rule the saved Marik and Bakura from getting into too much trouble, Malik from paperwork and bailing the two from jail, and Yami from going to drastic lengths. Had Ryou had finished the statement Malik cut off the paper pusher would have probably thought twice about agreeing, because the violinist wanted to say, 'I hope they understand that they cannot leave any evidence behind to be traced back to them or we are all screwed.' If Malik had been patient and heard that he would have run from the Underground House cursing up a storm, dogging the steps of his husband and friends. After being cut off, Ryou had wanted to laugh at Malik's false assumption but resigned himself to the fact that it was for the best that the paper pusher did not know what he really agreed to.

Than again, Malik believed that Ryou was going to either protest what the three were going to do or something else and did not feel like listening to that. So the blonde paper pusher decided to fill the rest of the sentence in by assuming Ryou might have said, 'I hope those idiots know that those who meddle in the affairs of dragons are crunchy and good with paprika.' In turn that led to his generic answer. In the end it did not matter because both were right in their sentiments.

Which led to the fact that a nervous Bakura and Marik following Yami to the upper levels of the opera house, only the unofficial leader of their expedition was not lurking in the shadows or the secret passageways. No, he was waling in the open and when this issue was brought up he paused long enough to glare at them from over his shoulder before picking up his pace a bit. The awkward silence persisted as he led them into the foyer where a calm Lord Vincent Valentine was standing and Yami came to a stop five feet from the Lord. "Shall we end these troubles, Yami?" Vincent asked as his red eyes flickered to the two flanking Yami.

"We will have to, considering the fact that this was his last chance to repent for his previous actions." Yami stated in a cold tone, garnering a nod from the dark haired Lord. With that Yami made for the door, Vincent falling into step by him, while Marik and Bakura stayed silent in face of the combined anger. They than entered the carriage that Mahaad had kept out front, since he had been told to wait by Vincent, and with a nod from the dark haired Lord he snapped the reigns and they set off down the dark street.

"What is the plan?" Bakura cautiously asked, eyeing both Vincent and Yami. It worried him that Yami was not lurking in the shadows and that some how the Phantom, or Opera Ghost, knew Lord Valentine. The other reason why he was suddenly worried was because both men were silent and in a stare down with one another, which escalated the tension between everyone.

"It would be wise to go right to the source and pay a friendly visit to Count Motou, who is still residing at his beautiful estate on the edge of town. On that note, this man values his privacy as much as his control over people and things." Vincent explained with a feral grin, one that made Marik shiver because it was obvious the man was not going to be playing nice. While Marik and Bakura were not strangers to killing, or causing property damage without being found out, they did know when to be weary of someone that was well above their level of vindictive behavior. This was definitely the first time they both had the urge to make up an excuse and stay in for the night, where it would be safe, and leave both Yami and Vincent to their own games till they could be questioned later about why they seemed to be so familiar with one another.

"All those years of stalking your own in-laws?" Yami asked as he sat back against the seat of the carriage, ignoring the clip clopping of the horse's hooves on the brick road and other sounds of the night, and watched Vincent like a hawk.

"Only Solomon, considering how many times he has put my darling Mai in danger." Vincent answered rather coldly, glaring at something outside of the carriage. "He is not the only person in this city with the ability to make sure things happened when they want, but I do better. He may have luck in games, but there are some games where too much luck can kill you." He added as Yami snickered, causing Marik and Bakura to flinch because they knew what happened when Yami snickered. Props would fall dangerously close to people, the backgrounds would be switched around or rigged to drop at a certain time, ruining of dresses or other costumes… and that was only the tame stuff!

"So, oh knowing one, what do you know about him than? It hardly would be wise to keep Yugi locked up in a place everyone knows about." Bakura pointed out as both red-eyed men turned to him, only to get a grin while Marik palmed his face in embarrassment.

"A few months back Count Motou opened the doors to his orderly home to play host to a group of out-of-towners, which explains how Ms. Wong and her entourage kept a low profile." Vincent told them as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked over the Maestro and Manager. "My contact confirmed this because she has also been using Count Motou's means of transportation, from carriages with the Motou crest on them to the unmarked carriages with the driver in lavish attire."

"Many of her visits had Solomon in the carriage waiting for her." Yami butted in as Vincent nodded.

"The question of 'where' and 'who' has been answered, but 'what' is the plan?" Marik asked causing both masterminds to fall silent.

"We will break into the house, than find Yugi and liberate him from his captors, than get out, finally back to the opera house where an alibi will have been established already." Yami stated with a shrug, as if it would be that simple, and both Maestro and manager stared at him like he was nuts. "Correct on the last part?"

"Of course." Vincent answered with a nod as another awkward silence settled between the men.

"Bakura, I have this twitchy feeling." Marik whispered to the Maestro, who nodded in agreement.

"How do we approach this situation?" Bakura asked the blonde manager while the two red eyed men were silent, probably ignoring them.

"On egg shells." Marik remarked and the rest of the trip to the mansion was silent.

* * *

There were many ways for a person to wake up from being knocked out— groggy, twitchy, slowly open eyes and looking into the face of someone they loved, next to your lover, or such. In Yugi's case he woke up in a bed that was too soft for him to be at the opera house or the Underground House, both of those beds were comfortable and inspired a long lay in, but it was the giggling he heard to the side and the sharp nail that was tracing his bare collarbone.

Giggling? Sharp fingernail?

Yugi's eyes snapped open and he turned his head to the left only to see a smug looking Vivian, wearing a risqué silk nightdress, curled up against his left side. He blinked a few times and just stared as she moved to kiss him and that was when Yugi's mind finally fully woke up. "NO!" he shouted and moved away from her, only to fall off of the bed with a painful thunk.

"But, Yugi, darling!" Vivian protested with a pout that she probably thought was sexy, but Yugi was panicking and ignoring her.

"Unclean!" Yugi shouted as he got to his feet and ran around the bed, throwing the door open as Vivian finally managed to get out of bed. "Unclean!" he declared again and ran out the door, past the shocked guards, and down the corridor to the main stairs.

"Yugi!" Solomon shouted as he emerged from his study, which made Yugi twitch and stare at him for a few moments.

"I am unclean because of you!" he declared and ran down the stairs as Solomon tried to follow, only to get worn out at the top of the stairs. He watched as Yugi looked around the foyer, dismissing the front door for some reason.

"You have to marry her!" Solomon shouted as Yugi glared up at him.

"I'd rather join a monastery!" the manager-turned-singer shouted while shaking a fist up at the old man before he turned and ran off to the left and through a small corridor. The young man dodged around a few maids and entered the kitchen and went skidding across the smooth floor, catching the edge of a counter as the three cooks and two aides stared at him.

"Yugi?" one man asked as Yugi looked around.

"I was not here, you do not see me, and we did not have this conversation." Yugi stated and darted into the pantry, shutting the door behind him, and he proceeded to barricade himself into the room that was barely lit by the few lanterns. He had food and some liquids, mostly wine, so he could survive for a bit so long as the hired help did not gang up on the poor door. "Yami, don't let me down…" he muttered and sat down on the ground, leaning against a sack of flour, and proceeded to play the age old waiting game. "Mercy above, don't let me down because if I have to marry her I will throw myself out the three-story window and land on my head so help me."

* * *

For some reason Yami felt a cold chill run down his spine, which caused him to look around the dark landscape for the source of his new bout of paranoia. Mentally he swore he was not letting Yugi out of his sight for a month after this, most of that would be in bed. "Yami, mind on the mission." Vincent growled kicking the Opera Ghost in the shin, receiving a glare for that move.

"My mind is on the mission." Yami growled out as Bakura and Marik were now watching them, seeing the sudden conversation had pulled them from their own boredom. "The same as when Solomon had Mai kidnapped on the night of her big premiere, which was after she stepped in for La Carlotta for the production of _Romeo and Juliet_."

"Touché." Vincent muttered and leaned his head back.

"Sirs, we are here." Mahaad stated as he brought the carriage to a stop in front of the manor that Solomon Motou owned, which they could not see anything of but the lantern outside the front door and the few windows that marked where their true targets probably were. "I will stay here, you four are on your own." He added with a stern look as Yami nodded in agreement, getting to his feet first and exiting the carriage as the others followed.

"If they catch on, leave." Vincent stated as the driver tipped his hat in acknowledgment and watched the four shadows move across the dark landscape, silently hoping they did not fail in what they wanted to accomplish.

Within a few moments, the group reached the lantern lit front door of the estate. Yami went to open the front door of the house, only for it to open to show a plain brown haired and hazel young woman in a black maid's uniform. "Sara." Vincent stated with a slight nod as she smiled and pressed a finger to her lips, opening the door a bit more to admit everyone. As soon as they were in she quickly shut the door behind them and nodded again and motioned for them to follow her to an alcove in the corridor to the kitchen.

"Lord Vincent." She whispered and bowed slightly, mostly out of respect for the man she was addressing. "Master Yugi is holding the pantry hostage and has been since he had his episode earlier this evening, most of the staff was sent home tonight and those still here are going the extra mile to avoid certain areas."

"Coincidence?" Marik asked as he shoved Sara against the wall, a hand around her throat as she stared at him in surprise, but she did not move to stop him. Yami hit him upside the head as Vincent pulled him away from the brunette and slapped the blonde manager upside the head with a glare as Bakura stood back with an amused look and watched the floor show.

"Dumbass." Yami muttered as the blonde manager glared at him. "Sara, I apologize for Marik he has yet to be house broken."

"No trouble. Just get Master Yugi out of here." She remarked, than lashed out and landed a right cross across Marik's face and sent him stumbling into a surprised Yami. "Do that again and I will castrate you, sir." She growled out and the four fell silent. "What do you require of me, Lord Vincent?"

"Take these." Yami stated as he removed his hat, sitting it on her head, and than her mask, which he pressed into her hands. "Mahaad is outside, get him out of here while we work. Sara, if…"

"I know, Master Yami, I know. If Master Yugi is harmed my life is forfeit to a dirty gutter." She muttered and left the alcove, giving a recovered Marik a chance to glare at the two red-eyed men and Bakura to quirk an eyebrow.

"Ex-girlfriend?" the Maestro asked cheekily as Vincent moved and hit him upside the head this time.

"Can we concentrate on finishing this?" Yami hissed as Sara's light footsteps were far enough away. "Bakura and Marik, we leave Vivian to you."

"We have a few things to discuss with old man Solomon." Vincent whispered with a feral smile that made both Bakura and Marik uneasy.

"Will do." Marik stated as the four left the alcove and moved around to the front of the main stairs.

* * *

Sara sighed as she stood outside the door to the kitchen. All she had to do was talk Master Yugi out of the pantry, than get him out of the house and to the carriage outside, and accomplish this without any troubles from those still left at the estate. Easier said than done, but she was optimistic in doing so or else. She took few deep breaths to calm her nerves and than carefully pushed open the door and slipped into the kitchen where two cooks were sitting at a small table, playing cards. "Sara, what is with the hat?" the senior cook asked as the other turned to face her. She had forgotten that she was still wearing the hat and clutching the mask in her hands as if it was her only lifeline.

"I am here to get Master Yugi out of the pantry and take him back into the city." She confidently told them, squaring her shoulders and standing a bit straight, as both just stared at her like she was nuts. "That and Lord Valentine is most displeased and he arrived a little bit ago to speak with Count Motou about his recent and past actions." She added as both paled and got to their feet.

"We will take a page from Master Yugi's book than." The second cook told her as she tilted her head to the side in question.

"We were never here, you did not see us, etcetera." The senior cook supplied as both packed up their cards. "WE will go into town to a nice little bar and forget we were here ourselves."

"That we will." The other added and both rushed from the kitchen and towards the entrance that the maids and butlers used. The brunette sighed and moved to the pantry, tapping on the door and waiting for a sound.

"Master Yugi, we need to go now." She stated as muffled curses could barely be heard. "Lord Vincent is here with Master Yami and two others." The door opened a crack as she moved to stand in front of the crack and held the mask up. "Please?" she asked as he fully opened the door and took the mask, staring at it like it was an ancient relic.

"How?" Yugi asked her as she shrugged.

"Master Yami have them to me to get you out of here. Can we please go now?" she pleaded as he nodded. Sara mentally thanked her lucky stars as she seized his wrist and pulled him out of the kitchen and towards the front entrance since it was hard to navigate from the servant entrance to where the carriage was probably stationed in the front.

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter was drug out screaming… and I mean screaming. I was a step away from trying to do justice to a Nolan's Joker and blow everything up with some maniacal laughter and other things, but figured that would have been too… meh. Than again, imagining Bakura as The Joker is and interesting thought and only made worse by imagining Marik as The Riddler (in green) but Mai as Catwoman is a go.

Thanks to the character of Sara, who filled in a small plot hole. Vincent was channeling _NCIS_'s Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, cause Gibbs is wicked. I do apologize if it seems that I am dragging things out, I don't mean to but at least they are in the house now and everything is set up. The next chapter is dedicated to what happens with Vivian and Solomon, I promise.


	10. Chapter 10

**Dark Reborn:** It depends on how you want to spin the "Phantom Business" because when I thought about it I came to the conclusion that it could be interpreted in two ways (at least to me, readers may see more than I do which is a good thing): one, it is a reverse Dread Pirate Roberts in how the title is passed down with a job in mind, or two, the business is 'we lurk, we stalk, and we are perfectionist' or something of that sort. Either way go ahead and use it, but I hope you will give me a heads up of what you use it in so I can read what you have in mind for it.

**SilverDragon-Purity:** The connection between Yami and Vincent are answered in this chapter... it may be cliche but I figured it was a good twist from the original plot of _Phantom of the Opera._ Yep, gotta love/respect the Abby's silver fox and the interesting/quarky goth girl (who can kick butt, if the duct taped assistant/assassin and tazered another assassin).

**Protector of the Nameless:** I am not sure how creative or gruesome what happened to Solomon and Vivian is, but I figured the implications worked out well enough. Let's everyone come up with their own filler for what happened behind hte scenes, to give a way a bit.

* * *

No one but the four men involved knew what really happened that night, but all it took was two days before the entire city knew at least one thing. The newspapers had the story that was released by the police, but in the end everyone knew of the scandal that took place at the home of Count Solomon Motou. That was how Malik, Yugi, and Ryou were clued in about what happened that night but none of them were asking their lover or husband about the details and they were definitely not asking Vincent about it.

What happened?

**MOTOU SCANDAL! HEIRESS MURDERED!**

_Police arrested Count Solomon Motou for the murder of Shipping Heiress Vivian Wong, but that was not the end of charges leveled against he once admired man of the people. Investigation into Count Motou's murder case later revealed documentation of all of his attempts to murder or assault prominent members of many opera houses and families. The Opera Populaire was also included in his records, most of the attempts revolving around his own granddaughter— Prima Donna Mai Valentine. The most recent plans, released by the police as an example, revolved around his own grandson Tenor Yugi Motou and ranged from kidnapping and drugging the talented young man to full out imprisoning the boy in one of his many estates with the final option of killing the body in an 'accident' of his devising._

What the article did not say was that Vivian Wong had been found in her rather risqué nightgown, in Solomon's study, stabbed eighteen times with a letter opener from the older man's desk. The old man was found stinking of alcohol, his hands covered in her blood with his prints on the handle of the opener, face flecked with drops, his attire also stained with blood, and the weapon by his feet. His handprints were also on the body, which sealed his fate.

Now the opera house was peaceful and things fell back into their old routine. Rehearsals continued as news of what happened finally died down and before anyone knew a month and half passed and it was now the night before the opening night of _Il Muto_. Yugi laughed as he sat down to the ritual poker game and the toasting to the upcoming production, seeing Marik had brought a good bottle of wine he had stolen from Solomon's house and a set of eight crystal cups, but someone was absent. "Yami's been missing for two weeks now." Malik commented as Yugi shuffled the cards and Bakura poured the wine.

"It is odd, this is the first time he has disappeared for such a long period of time." Ryou remarked as he passed the glasses out, going as far as to place one where Yami usually sat and the one extra glass that was a bribe for the devil. "I believe he has a good reason, since he doesn't tend to do things he doesn't have to." He added with a smile as Yugi passed the shuffled cards over to Malik, who proceeded to deal them out.

"Seeing Yami is not going to be showing up any time in this next year, it may be best we begin without him." Malik stated, sitting the remainder of the card deck down. "Before that, Yugi… do you know where he is?" the paper-pusher asked with half-lidded eyes and a lazy, almost lecherous, grin that made Yugi want to bolt for the door and go hide under the bed in his room.

"Only the note that came this afternoon." The manager-turned singer admitted nervously as Bakura's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Marik frowned. "I didn't say anything because I figured he told you guys what he was up to." Bakura went to say something sarcastic, but Ryou reached over and slapped a hand over his lover's mouth with a frown.

"It is a valid answer and assumption." Ryou declared in a voice that left no room for argument. "Yami has his moments when he goes off and does something he wants, this could be one of those times despite the length of time he has spent away. You also forget that Yami is an adult and can handle himself, considering how many times he has pulled your drunken ass out of the fire." He finished removing his hand from a now shocked Bakura's mouth while Marik made a show of cleaning his ears.

"Stress?" Yugi asked the violinist with a frown as Ryou smiled cheerfully at the manager-turned singer.

"Probably in more ways than one." Marik muttered under his breath, but clamed up when Ryou turned and glared at him.

"What did Yami's letter read?" Malik asked as he eyed Ryou, who was looking ready to attack both his own lover and Marik for some reason.

"He wished me good luck in my official debut tomorrow and apologized for not being able to make his toast while in our company and wanted me to warn you that he has a big surprise that will be revealed after the production. The last part of the small letter noted that if you guys pass out in public he would never let you live it down." Yugi told them, sticking with an abridged version since the rest of the letter was geared towards Yugi.

"Enough talk." Marik declared drawing all attention to him self as he picked his wine glass up, grinning as the other four followed his example. "A toast to the first official debut of our talented Yugi, may his voice ring true." He continued to say as Yugi blushed.

"A toast to the orchestra, may the brass be bold and the strings taunt and steady and the reeds ready. May their fingers be swift and their ears sharp or I'll stab them in the eye." Bakura stated as the others laughed.

"You stole mine!" Ryou pouted as Bakura smirked, leaning over and ruffling his lover's hair and getting a glare. "May Rebecca be ready because she has a large dress to fill!" he declared as Marik cackled.

"That girl definitely doesn't have the assets Mai hides, damn." The blonde manager whistled as Malik glared at his husband. "What? While Mai's voice is like a chorus of angels, you know that the men in the audience pay to oogle her beautiful Valkayrie-like form!"

"You are assuming Norse myth see Valkyries as statuesque and not overly bulky." Ryou pointed out dryly as Marik glared at the violinist. "The image of her in armor, pigtails, holding a spear is scary."

"I'll pretend this conversation never happened because than I wouldn't have to tell Vincent about the conversation about his lovely wife and my cousin turned sister." Yugi squeaked out, blushing red in embarrassment about the turn the conversation has taken while palming his face, making the rest laugh. As they calmed down Yugi pulled his hand away from his face and raised his glass a bit higher. "A toast to the first performance without a meddling old man and to the beginning of a new era for the Opera Populaire." He stated as they all cheered and than clinked glasses before downing the contents of their first glass quickly and beginning their first game of poker.

* * *

The next day was full of energy with triple and quadruple checks, practicing to perfect mistakes in both the ballet corps and orchestra, and by that night everyone was ready for the first performance of _Il Muto_. The audience was in awe of the new level of perfection achieved by the orchestra and cast, leading to several encores before the parties began. Mai was giddy, despite the fact that this was the last opera she was putting on before her retirement, and had not let Yugi change from his attire as she pulled him through the corridor grinning like a loon and obviously she knew something that no one else did.

That is what led him to the foyer, among the upper-class men and women, in his powdered wig and white make-up and attire that looked like he was a noble from a time before the French Revolution. Many congratulated him on a stunning performance as he made a slow circuit around to the many groups, mostly pushed along the path by a grinning Mai who did her own greetings. "Vincent, darling!" Mai nearly squealed as she greeted her husband, causing Yugi to turn around and watch she hugged the black haired and crimson-eyed man who was grinning. She pulled away from Vincent and grabbed Yugi's arm before the manager-turned-singer could disappear into the crowds and slink away to a quiet place.

"I would like to formally introduce both of you to my older brother." Vincent stated with a nod and motioned for the cloaked man that had been hiding behind him to come forward. "Mai and Yugi my older brother, the true Lord of the Valentine Clan, Yami Valentine." He stated as Yugi's eyes widened as the cloaked figure reached up and pushed the hood back to show tri-colored hair that fell around his shoulders and in to sharp crimson eyes. Yugi was awestruck by the fact that Yami's face was perfect, no blemishes whatsoever and nothing that would distract a person from the sheer intensity of his eyes— a trait that the Valentine brothers seemed to share.

"What?!" two voices shouted in pure shock, causing both Yugi and Yami to turn to the side in time to watch as Bakura and Marik fainted from the shock of the revelation while Malik snickered.

"It is a pleasure to meet such a talented singer." Yami stated as he nodded to Yugi with a grin while Yugi tried not to glare at him, but the manager-turned-singer did promise to get his lover back for this. "I am actually here tonight because both Mr. Kaiba and Mr. Pegasus agreed to hand over full ownership of this opera house to me."

"Really?" Malik asked as he approached the two, noting that Yami's grin did not fade.

"I have been here for so long that I know the workings a bit better than both men and they have decided that they have spread themselves too thin. Instead, they have decided to become patrons." He added with a nod, obviously confident about his declaration. Within the first hour, when both Kaiba and Pegasus arrived they were immediately questioned by nosey socialites and they did agree that Yami's announcement was true.

* * *

With a whispered request from Yami and a little patience, Yugi had finally managed to slip away from the festivities after two hours but it had taken him another hour before he felt clean of the cake don make-up and heavy attire. After slipping into a pair of slacks and a baggy tunic he carefully made his way through the party that was still in full swing behind the scenes, the one that the rest of the cast and orchestra and stage crew put into motion after every show, and to a circular staircase made out of wood that led up to the upper floor. When he reached that storage area, going by Yami's simple instructions, he made his way out of a partially open door and on to a snow covered landing that had a rearing horse and horseman in the center and overlooked the circular drive that was in front of the opera house. "Yami?" he asked, wrapping his arms around himself and cursing the fact he forgot to grab a coat in his rush.

"Thank you for not being angry with the fact I kept that secret from you." A familiar voice stated as Yami stepped out from the front of the horseman, his heavy black cloak around his shoulders, and moved towards Yugi. "I did not like keeping such a secret from you." He whispered parting his cloak and pulled a now blushing Yugi into a hug, making sure the young man was as close to him as possible while he used one hand to make sure the cloak was closed around both of them.

"I understood your reason and it would have been hypocritical of me, considering who I was once connected to." The young man stated with a small smile, staring up into Yami's eyes as he carefully brought a hand up to cup Yami's cheek. "I understand your reasons and respect them, considering I owe you so much for keeping Mai safe from everything that Solomon orchestrated." Yami leaned into his lover's touch with a smile of his own.

"After everything I have done, even in the name of justice and protection, I do not deserve such a caring soul… such an angel as you." He muttered, leaning down a bit as Yugi blushed but did not look away from Yami.

"Maybe I am your Angel of Music, sent here to guide you." Yugi cheekily stated as Yami chuckled and leaned down and pressed a kiss to Yugi's lips, which the young man accepted. A few moments later the man that was once the Opera Ghost, the Phantom of the Opera, pulled about an inch away from a now dazed Yugi.

"In that case, my Angel of Music, will you stay with me forever?" he asked as Yugi's eyes widened a bit in surprise before he laughed and nodded with a grin.

"Forever, my Phantom, and than some." Yugi promised and initiated the next kiss just as it began to snow. The white flakes fell around them, but neither really cared because they had finally found true happiness from the lonely lives they had led to this point.

* * *

**A/N:** I did not expect to finish this so late, but this chapter was actually started ten different times in ten different ways and none of them really fit with how to finish it. At first I was going to go into detail with what happened, but than nothing started right or sounded right or even looked right! Than, one day while knitting, this idea hit me so I slept on it... and this chapter was born. It may not be up to standards and it may let some people down, which I apologize for it that is true.


End file.
